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Smcond  Revited  Edition 


the  First  Congress  of  the  Red 
rade  Union  International 
t  Moscow,  1921 


A  Report  of  the  Proceedings  by 
Geo,  Williams,  Delegate 
from  the  I.  W.  W. 


iblUhe4   by 

idustrial  Workers  of  the  World 

001  W.  Madison  St.,  Chicago,  III. 


Price  Ten   Cents 


members  of  the  P.  P.  W.  T.  U.  No.  450  of  the  I.  W. 


THE  FIRST  CONGRESS  OF  THE  RED  TRADE  UNION 
INTERNATIONAL  AT  MOSCOW,  1921 


,  The  following,  which  is  the  preliminary  report  of  Fellow 
Worker  Geo.  Williams  and  sent  from  Berlin  has  been  cut  down 
and  contains  points  not  covered  in  later  reports. 

The  reports  as  made  out  after  the  return  of  Fellow  Worker 
Williams  from  Russia  remain  as  printed  in  Industrial  Solidarity, 
Dec.  25,  1921  to  Jan.  14,  1922,  inclusive,  with  slight  corrections 
and  several  insertions. 

The  report  follows: 

When  I  arrived  in  Moscow  on  July  1st  I  found  that  I  had 
been  preceded  by  three  other  fellow  workers,  acting  as  dele- 
gates from  the  Metal  and  Machinery  Workers'  Industrial  Union. 
I  am  only  acquainted  with  their  surnames.  They  are  Belinkis, 
Belotin  and  Calvert.  Belinkis  and  Belotin  had  credentials  issued 
by  the  New  York  District  Council  of  I.  W.  W.  locals.  Belinkis 
and  Belotin  told  me  that  they,  together  with  Calvert,  had  been 
elected  by  the  convention  of  the  Metal  and  Machinery  Workers 
which  was  held  in  Detroit  in  February  of  1921.  (I  have  not 
sufficient  notes  with  me  to  give  their  full  explanation  and  must 
rely  on  memory.)  However,  even  though  elected  as  they  say  by 
the  convention  of  M.  and  M.  W.,  General  Headquarters  would  not 
0.  K.  their  credentials  on  the  ground  that  the  General  Conven- 
tion would  send  a  delegate  and  also  that  Hardy  was  then  in 
Russia  and  would  represent  the  I.  W.  W.  Calvert,  whose  creden- 
tials I  did  not  see,  was,  when  I  arrived  in  Moscow,  on  an  ex- 
pedition of  some  kind  about  which  I  will  explain  when  I  return 
home.  But  I  met  him  shortly  before  I  left,  and  he  tells  me  the 
same  as  the  other  delegates.  He  was  recording  secretary  of  the 
Metal  and  Machinery  Convention.  I  mention  the  circumstances 
of  these  delegates,  so  you  will  get  a  clearer  idea  or  understanding 
of  what  will  be  told  later  about  the  Congress  of  the  Red  Trade 
Union  International. 

In  addition  to  the  above  mentioned  parties.  Fellow  Worker 
Kraus  was  also  present  as  a  delegate  with  credentials  signed  by 
Roy  Brown  as  Chairman  of  the  G.  E.  B.  Kraus  was  empowered 
(according  to  the  instructions)  to  act  as  alternate  to  Hardy,  who 
was  in  Russia  at  the  time  the  credentials  were  issued  and  about 


493777 

EC0Kc:.:;v3 


whom  it  was  not  certain  whether  he  could  stay  for  the  coming 
Congress,  because  of  delays  and  postponements.  Kraus  worked 
in  the  printing  shop  of  the  organization  in  Chicago  on  the 
Russian  paper. 

The  above  mentioned  Fellow  Workers  had  been  in  Moscow 
two  months  before  I  arrived  and  had  already  participated  in  sev- 
eral caucuses  with  other  American  delegates.  They  had  been  of- 
ficially recognized  at  that  time  as  delegates  of  the  I.  W.  W.  by  the 
officials  of  the  provisional  council  of  the  R.  T.  U.  I.  and  were 
acting  as  best  they  could  in  lieu  of  the  presence  of  an  official 
delegate. 

Upon  arriving  in  Moscow  and  becoming  acquainted  with  the 
situation  I  informed  these  Fellow  Workers  that  my  credentials 
stated  specifically  that  I  was  to  be  the  only  official  delegate  who 
was  empowered  by  the  General  Convention  and  as  it  was  so 
stated  in  writing  on  my  credentials  they  would  have  to  fit  in  as 
best  they  could.  They  agreed  to  this  and  were  subsequently  ad- 
mitted to  the  Congress  as  fraternal  delegates.  I  saw  no  reason 
to  object  to  their  position,  as  neither  they  nor  the  officials  in  Mos- 
cow could  know  if  anyone  was  coming  from  the  General  Conven- 
tion, and,  besides,  a  few  more  fraternal  delegates  in  an  already 
stuffed  congress  could  make  no  difference.  In  addition  to  myself 
and  the  three  Fellow  Workers  already  mentioned  I  found  that  the 
following  were  in  Moscow  as  delegates  from  America: 

The  American  Delegates 

(1)  Ella  Reeves  Bloor  (under  the  name  of  Emmons),  rep- 
resenting three  locals  of  the  International  Association  of  Ma- 
chinists: Local  Union  337  of  Chicago;  Local  Union  225  of  Day- 
ton, Ohio;  and  Local  Union  47  of  Denver,  Colo.,  totaling  about 
18,000  members. 

(2)  Crosby,  representing  Amalgamated  Metal  Workers; 
Amalgamated  Food  Workers;  Boot  and  Shoe  Workers;  minority 
committee  needle  trades  of  Boston;  Amalgamated  Clothing 
Workers '  minority  of  Boston,  totaling  from  25,000  to  40,000 
members. 

(3)  Hulet  Wells,  representing  Seattle  Central  Labor  Council. 
50,000  members. 

(4)  Dennis  Batt,  representing  the  Detroit  Federation  of 
Labor.     60,000  members. 

(5)  Joseph  Dixon,  representing  the  Kansas  miners,  the 
United  Labor  Council  of  New  York  City  and  the  Trade  Union 
Educational  League  of  Kansas  City.  Combined  total  of  from 
75,000  to  80,000  members. 

In  addition  to  the  above,  who  were  seated  as  delegates  with 
decisive  votes,  there  was  a  small  army  of  fraternal  delegates, 

4 


who  were  credentialed  by  the  New  York  City  Red  Labor  Bureau, 
most  of  whom  were  also  delegates  to  the  Third  Congress  of  the 
Communist  International,  which  was  then  m  session,  and  they 
served  as  convenient  stuffing  for  the  Red  International  Congress. 
They  represented  everything  that  is  known  and  unknown  in  the 
American  labor  movement. 

Having  perceived  the  nature  of  the  organizations  whom  the 
above   delegates   claimed   to   represent,  I  immediately  entered  a   ] 
protest  with  the  credential  committee  and  demanded  that  they    ] 
(with  the  exception  of  Crosby)   be  excluded  as  delegates  "with   1 
a  decisive  vote."    I  also  asked  to  see  and  examine  the  credentials   \ 
of  those  delegates  to  whom  I  objected  and  learned  that  the  ere-    I 
dentials  of  Dixon  were  an  absolute  fraud.    He  claimed  to  repre--^ 
sent  the  United  Labor  Council  of  New  York  City,  but  no  creden- 
tials   could   be   produced    from  that  organization.     Dixon,  more- 
over, did  not  even  know  where  in  New  York  City  this  particular 
organization  had  its  headquarters,  nor  did  he  know  the  names  of 
any  of  its  officials.    His  credentials  from  the  Kansas  miners  were 
likewise  absent,  but  a  prepared  mandate  from  the  New  York  City 
Red  Labor  Bureau  seemed  to  serve  as  bona  fide  credentials  for  the 
United  Labor  Council  and  the  Kansas  miners.    The  United  Labor 
Council  of  New  York  City,  as  near  as  I  can  understand,  is  an  or- 
ganization that  serves  the  same  function  for  radical  independent 
unions  of  that  city  as  a  central  labor  body  in  the  A.  F.  of  L.    It 
is  a  propaganda  center  and  has  no  power  to  bind  its  constituents 
to  an  affiliation  with  the  Red  International.    The  Kansas  miners, 
whom  Dixon  claimed  to  represent,  are  supposed  to  be  the  several 
districts  in  that  state  that  are  part  of  the  United  Mine  Workers 
of  America,  yet  it  is  certain  that  they  never  sent  Dixon  to  rep- 
resent them,  but  he  appears  in  Moscow  as  their  delegate.     The 
Trade  Union  Educational  League  is  a  supposed  organization  in 
Kansas    City,    which    only  exists  on    paper.    Presumably  it  is  a 
Communist  organization  for  propaganda  purposes.     That  Dixon's 
credentials    from    these    organizations    were  issued  by  the  Red 
Labor  Bureau  of  New  York  City  and  not  from  the  organizations 
themselves   is   proof   positive   that   his  presence  in  Moscow  was 
specifically  arranged  for  and  that  the  Red  Labor  Bureau  was  the 
center  through  which  the  Communist  Party  of  America  worked 
to  control  the  American  delegation.    The  Red  Labor  Bureau  is  it- 
self nothing  more  than  a  bureau  of  the  Communist  International 
and  functions  as  such. 

Dixon  was  the  American  representative  on  the  provisional 
council  of  the  R.  T.  U.  I.  before  the  last  Congress  selected  an- 
other. Whom  he  represented  no  one  knows.  That  Dixon  is  a  Com- 
munist is  sufficient  to  know  and  explains  everything. 

The  credentials  of  Batt,  representing  the  Detroit  Federation 
of  Labor,  stated  clearly  and  specifically  that  the  bearer  was  being 
sent  as  a  fraternal  delegate. 


The  credentials  of  Bloor  or  Emmons  are  open  to  suspicion, 
and  whoever  they  were  made  out  for  was  only  empowered  to  act 
in  a  fraternal  capacity.  Certain  it  is  that  these  three  locals, 
thousands  of  miles  apart,  did  not  elect  the  same  person  as  their 
representative,  each  selecting  a  delegate  about  the  same  time.  The 
case  is  simple  from  the  standpoint  that  Emmons  or  Bloor  is  a 
Communist  and  all  that  was  needed  was  a  letter  head  and  a 
typewriter. 

The  credentials  of  Wells,  representing  the  Seattle  Central 
Labor  Council,  were  also  fraternal. 

The  credentials  of  Crosby,  insofar  as  the  Amalgamated 
Metal  Workers  were  concerned,  were  good,  although  his  represen- 
tation of  minorities  in  the  needle  trades  of  Boston  and  the  Amal- 
gamated Clothing  Workers  of  the  same  city  are  rather  dubious 
and  at  the  most  are  for  minorities  manufactured  by  the  Com- 
munist Party  of  America.     Crosby  is  a  Communist. 

What  I  have  explained  about  the  character  of  the  delegates 
was  also  the  case  in  the  delegations  of  all  other  countries.  From 
the  first  it  was  apparent  that  each  delegation  was  safely  controlled 
by  Communists  and  all  working  strictly  on  the  policy  as  laid  down 
by  the  Communist  International.  The  credentials  committee  (the 
most  important  in  view  of  the  fact  that  they  decided  on  the  stand- 
ing of  all  delegates)  was  composed  mostly  of  Communists  and 
they  maintained  a  (poorly  concealed)  hostile  attitude  towards  all 
Syndicalist  and  Industrialist  delegates.  This  credentials  com- 
mittee had  one  function  only,  and  that  was  to  see  that  each  dele- 
gation was  controlled  by  Communists.  About  the  credentials  of 
Syndicalists  and  Industrialists  they  were  strangely  rigid  in  their 
inspection,  but  about  the  credentials  of  those  who  were  Commun- 
ists anything  was  good  enough. 

The  various  countries  were  classified  in  four  groups:  Eng- 
land, America,  Germany,  France,  Russia,  Spain,  etc.,  in  the  first 
group  and  less  important  industrial  countries  in  others.  The  first 
group  had  16  votes  regardless  of  the  number  of  delegates,  the 
second  group  12  and  so  on  to  the  last  group.  Each  delegation 
was  instructed  to  divide  the  number  of  votes  allotted  to  it  in  their 
own  meetings.  The  American  delegation,  being,  as  it  was,  mostly 
composed  of  Communists,  divided  the  votes  to  suit  itself  with  the 
following  result:  Emmons  1,  Crosby  3,  Williams  3,  Wells  3, 
Dixon  3,  Batt  3.    Total  16. 

To  understand  more  the  nature  of  the  delegates  present  at 
the  Congress  of  the  Red  International  I  must  briefly  explain  the 
manner  in  which  many  of  them  were  sent. 

From  America  six  delegates  were  present  with  decisive 
votes,  including  myself.  Of  the  six  only  Crosby  and  myself  were 
official  representatives  of  radical  labor  bodies  or  of  any  other 
kind  of  organization.  Emmons  and  Dixon  were  Communists  (so 
was  Crosby)  sent  over  by  the    Communists   of   America.    Wells 


and  Batt  were  fraternal  delegates  from  A.  F.  of  L.  central  labor 
bodies.  None  of  these  four  delegates  could  under  any  circum- 
stances show  that  the  organizations  they  represented  or  claimed 
to  represent  would  ever  become  an  integral  part  of  the  Red  Trade 
Union  International.  It  was  admitted  that  the  Trade  Union  Edu- 
cational League  represented  by  Dixon  was  only  a  propaganda 
bureau  set  up  in  Kansas  City  to  educate  the  members  of  the  A.  F. 
of  L.  to  Communist  principles.  But  it  was  argued  that  since 
there  must  be  some  radical  members  of  the  Kansas  City  trade 
unions,  who  as  such  had  no  organization,  their  logical  representa- 
tive was  the  Trade  Union  Educational  League,  or  in  other  words 
the  Communist  Party  as  personified  by  Dixon.  The  Communist 
viewpoint  is  that  every  trade  union  in  the  A.  F.  of  L.  has  what 
is  called  a  radical  minority  which  is  striving  to  overthrow  the 
present  leaders  in  the  A.  F.  of  L.  This  radical  minority  has  no 
organization  through  which  it  can  express  itself  but  it  must  be 
represented  in  Moscow.  The  Communist  Party  has  an  organiza- 
tion, therefore  the  Communist  Party  appoints  a  delegate  to  rep- 
resent whatever  minority  appears  on  the  labor  horizon.  Or  to 
put  the  case  in  another  light,  thus:  There  are  many  radicals  in 
the  A.  F.  of  L.  but  they  have  no  organization,  the  Communists  of 
America  have  an  organization  but  no  members. 

Made-to-Order  Minorities 

The  manner  of  defining  a  radical  minority  in  Communist 
circles  is  unique.  For  instance,  the  Seattle  labor  unions  go  on  a 
general  strike  contrary  to  the  wishes  of  the  international  officers 
of  the  various  trade  unions  involved ;  or  the  Seattle  Labor  Council 
passes  a  resolution  favoring  the  recognition  of  Soviet  Russia. 
This  is  against  the  attitude  of  Gompers.  There  are  60,000  A.  F. 
of  L.  members  in  Seattle,  therefore  in  the  Communist  conception 
of  things  the  60,000  members  are  a  minority  in  the  A.  F.  of  L., 
and  as  such  in  the  manner  described  they  are  entitled  to  have  a 
delegate  to  Moscow. 

In  Kansas  among  the  coal  miners  a  hostile  attitude  has  been 
maintained  against  the  leaders  of  the  A.  F.  of  L.  and  the  United 
Mine  Workers.  They  have  a  so-called  progressive  leader  and  go 
on  unauthorized  strikes;  there  are  7,000  coal  miners  in  Kansas 
who  because  of  their  general  attitude  are  styled  a  minority  and 
as  such  they  should  have  a  delegate  in  Moscow.  In  fact  they 
must,  and  since  they  as  a  minority  have  no  means  of  electing  a 
delegate,  the  Communist  Party  through  the  Red  Labor  Bureau  of 
New  York  City  obligingly  relieves  them  of  this  burden  and  a 
Communist  who  never  saw  a  coal  mine  in  his  life  is  dispatched  to 
Moscow. 

But  there  are  other  ways  of  creating  minorities  by  the  Com- 
munists. Several  Communists  work,  let  us  say,  in  the  railroad 
shops    somewhere.     As   members    of   the  Communist  Party  they 


form  what  is  called  a  cell  movement  and  as  such  they  are  the  of- 
ficial Communist  representatives  of  whatever  minorities  can  be 
construed  out  of  the  situation.  Whether  any  of  the  other  workers 
in  the  shops  who  are  perhaps  radical  in  their  views  know  of  their 
presence  and  that  they  are  represented  makes  no  difference.  Elec- 
tions are  not  necessary  in  hypothetical  cases.  To  the  Communists 
every  trade  union  is  a  potential  minority  and  in  more  ways  than 
one.  The  Kansas  miners  or  the  workers  in  Seattle  are  national 
minorities,  but  inside  the  Kansas  miners  and  the  unions  of  Seattle 
there  are  other  minorities  because  of  the  presence  of  conservative 
officials.  In  fact  the  Communists  have  created  so  many  minorities 
that  one  begins  to  wonder  if  there  is  any  majority.  The  minori- 
ties are  made  to  suit  the  occasion.  Thus  the  Communists  needed 
national  minorities  for  the  Red  Trade  Union  Congress  and  they 
were  readily  furnished  by  the  New  York  City  Red  Labor  Bureau. 

What  I  have  explained  here  I  have  found  to  be  the  case  in 
every  country  represented.  Germany  for  instance  had  over  70 
delegates  present;  of  this  number  perhaps  12  represented  actual 
labor  organizations.  The  rest  were  representing  minorities  in  the 
German  trade  union  movement.  Moreover,  nearly  all  of  these 
minorities  were  also  delegates  to  the  Third  Communist  Inter- 
national Congress. 

It  might  now  be  asked  (in  view  of  what  I  have  said)  why 
should  there  be  such  a  manifest  desire  to  stuff  the  Congress  of 
the  Red  International  with  delegates  who  did  not  represent  labor 
bodies  when  in  the  call  issued  by  the  provisional  council  of  the  R. 
T.  U.  I.  it  was  clearly  stated  that  the  Congress  was  to  be  com- 
posed of  radical  trade  union  delegates  only  and  that  a  purely 
economic  international  separate  from  the  political  organization 
was  to  be  formed.  I  think  that  every  economic  organization 
which  answered  the  call  believed  that  the  R.  T.  U.  I.  was  to  be 
free  from  any  domination  by  a  political  faction.  The  answer  to 
this  is  simple ;  having  failed  to  bring  the  radical  labor  unions  into 
the  Communist  International  and  knowing  that  there  was  a 
universal  desire  for  an  international  composed  only  of  radical 
labor  organizations;  realizing  that  sooner  or  later  this  Interna- 
tional would  be  formed,  the  tacticians  in  the  Communist  Interna- 
national  conceived  the  idea  of  forming  the  Red  Trade  Union  In^ 
ternational  and  dominating  it  by  the  mere  fact  that  Moscow 
would  be  its  headquarters.  Thus  the  radical  economic  organiza- 
tions in  joining  the  Red  Trade  International  would  place  them- 
selves as  completely  under  the  domination  of  the  Communist  In- 
ternational as  though  they  were  units  of  the  Third  International 
itself.  The  plan  as  revealed  by  the  deliberations  is  to  place  each 
national  labor  movement,  radical  and  otherwise,  under  the  domi- 
nation of  the  political  faction  of  each  country,  with  the  executive 
committee  of  the  Communist  International  as  the  supreme  dicta- 
tors of  the  world's  proletariat. 


8 


Stuffing  the  Congress 

In  addition  to  the  minority  delegates  I  have  referred  to, 
there  were  delegates  from  countries  in  which  no  revolutionary 
labor  organization  exists.  There  were  delegates  from  Palestine, 
Georgia  (Asia),  Korea  and  several  other  places  too  numerous  to 
mention  and  too  hard  to  find  on  any  map.  The  ridiculous  as- 
sumption that  revolutionary  labor  unions  exist  in  Korea  or  Pales- 
tine, and  the  audacity  of  seating  delegates  from  these  countries  in 
a  Congress  of  revolutionary  labor  unions  are  but  an  indication  of 
the  steps  taken  to  stuff  the  Congress  with  enough  delegates  of  the 
desired  calibre  to  put  through  any  program  desired.  But  what- 
ever program  was  intended  for  the  consideration  of  the  Congress 
was  lost  sight  of  or  cast  aside  for  the  purely  obvious  intention  of 
placing  the  R.  T.  U.  I.  under  the  control  of  the  politicians.  In 
fact,  the  most  of  the  delegates  from  Korea  and  Palestine  were 
credentialed  in  Moscow  and  never  saw  those  countries. 

One  of  the  most  glaring  examples  of  fraud  practiced  upon 
the  Red  Congress  by  the  political  group  in  control  was  the  selec- 
tion of  Andreytchine  as  a  member  of  the  executive  council.  An- 
dreytchine  arrived  in  Moscow  a  few  days  before  the  Congress 
ended  and  as  is  well  known  w^s  a  political  refugee  from  America. 
He  was  not  a  delegate  and  bore  no  credentials  from  any  organiza- 
tion. But  he  is  a  Communist  and  regarded  (in  Moscow)  as  being 
an  influential  member  of  the  I.  W.  W.  I  am  reliably  informed 
that  Andreytchine  was  selected  as  the  representative  of  America 
on  the  executive  council  by  a  secret  caucus  of  American  Commun- 
ists in  Moscow.  And  the  majority  of  those  who  participated  in 
the  caucus  were  not  even  delegates  to  the  R.  T.  U.  I.,  but  were 
delegates  to  the  Congress  of  the  Third  International. 

Shortly  after  arriving  in  Moscow  and  appraising  the  situa- 
tion as  I  have  briefly  described,  I  abandoned  the  meetings  of  the 
American  delegation  and  refused  to  attend  their  deliberations.  I 
could  not  bring  myself  to  participate  in  such  ludicrous  proceed- 
ings. I  was  a  minority  of  three  votes  with  13  against  me.  More- 
over there  was  a  decided  hostility  against  the  I.  W.  W.  I  saw 
that  the  Congress  was  to  be  dominated  by  the  Communists  and 
nothing  could  be  done.  The  credentials  committee  decided  the 
course  of  the  whole  Congress.  Everything  was  cut  and  dried.  As 
for  the  delegates  from  the  revolutionary  labor  bodies  who  at- 
tended, they  might  better  have  stayed  home. 

Somehow  I  was  elected  to  serve  on  two  committees  (not 
elected,  but  just  informed  that  THEY  wanted  me  to  act).  Both 
of  the  committees  met  at  the  same  time  and  therefore  it  was 
impossible  to  act  on  both.  These  committees  were,  of  course, 
dominated  by  the  politicians  and  the  proceedings  were  a  farce. 

The  sessions  of  the  Congress  are  also  an  indication  of  polit- 
ical domination.  A  particular  feature  of  the  Congi-ess  was  the 
shortness  of  its   duration.     One   would   think   that   a   congress 


called  to  form  a  world-wide  organization  of  revolutionary  labor 
unions  would  have  much  to  deliberate  about.  The  actual  length 
of  the  Congress  was  twelve  days.  Considering  that  transla- 
tions were  necessary  for  each  speech,  motion  and  resolution, 
which  took  up  at  least  two-fifths  of  the  time,  and  the  fact  that 
many  speeches  were  made  on  purely  irrelevant  questions,  the 
actual  constructive  work  of  the  Congress  was  confined  to  five 
day's  time.  What  has  been  done  towards  construction  can  be 
easily  measured  from  the  printed  proceedings,  which  are  or 
should  be  in  America  by  this  time.  It  is  certain  that  no  program 
was  adopted  that  bears  any  resemblance  to  a  feasible  plan  of 
organization.  In  this  the  hand  of  the  political  faction  is  seen. 
The  whole  truth  of  the  matter  in  a  few  words  is  that  the  pol- 
itical faction  did  not  want  an  economic  International  in  fact, 
but  in  name  only.  It  is  quite  evident  that  a  real  International 
of  revolutionary  industrial  unions  would  become  such  a  powerful 
organization  and  of  such  world  wide  influence  in  the  revolution- 
ary field  that  the  political  organizations  would  have  to  surrender 
their  present  dominating  position.  The  tacticians  in  the  Com- 
munist International  know  this,  therefore  they  are  making 
every  effort  to  control  such  an  organization  and  keep  it  in  the 
embryo  stage. 

From  my  observations  in  Russia  and  a  knowledge  of  the 
steps  taken  to  control  the  R.  T.  U.  I.,  I  am  convinced  that  a 
truly  economic  International  of  revolutionary  industrial  unions 
cannot  exist  with  headquarters  in  Moscow  without  being  domi- 
nated by  the  Communist  International. 

This  is  the  end  of  the  preliminary  report. 

In  my  preliminary  report  sent  from  Germany  I  said  that  I 
could  not  go  into  the  actual  proceedings  of  the  Congress  of 
the  Red  International  because  I  had  nothing  to  refer  to  at 
that  time.  I  fully  expected  that  upon  my  arrival  home  the 
matter  that  I  had  assembled  in  Moscow  for  delivery  would  be 
waiting  for  me.  But  it  has  not  showed  up  and  there  is  no  way 
of  knowing  when  it  will.  This  material  was  very  important,  as 
it  includes  everything  I  had  assembled  bearing  on  the  proceed- 
ings of  the  Congress  that  had,  up  until  the  time  I  left  Moscow, 
been  printed  in  English,  besides  much  in  Russian  and  German 
of  matter  not  yet  translated.  It  was  impossible  to  take  this 
matter  out  of  Russia,  first  because  it  is  not  allowed,  and  second 
because  there  was  too  much;  there  being  a  suitcase-full. 

This  material  comprised  the  daily  proceedings  of  the  Con- 
gress in  English,  notes  taken  by  me  from  day  to  day,  and  pam- 
phlets and  other  important  matter.  But  on  finding  that  nothing 
had  arnved,  I  began  collecting  what  I  could  in  Chicago,  but  to 
date  have  succeeded  in  getting  together  very  little  and  from  all 
mdications  the  task  of  duplicating  what  I  had  gathered  in  Russia 
will  take  some  time.    A  report  is  desired  now  and  cannot  be  put 

10 


off  to  wait  for  the  arrival  from  Russia  of  my  material,  nor  is 
there  time  to  collect  it  here  in  America. 

I  have  on  hand  now,  "The  Resolutions  and  Decisions  Adopted 
by  the  First  Congress  of  the  R.  T.  U.  I.,"  and  some  of  the  daily 
proceedings  in  English  (  a  scant  collection,  but  sufficient  for  a 
report),  also  a  few  notes  which  I  carried  with  me.  I  will  make 
a  report  from  this,  basing  it  almost  entirely  on  the  "Resolutions 
and  Decisions,"  as  adopted  by  the  first  Congress  of  the  R.  T. 
U.  I.  In  my  opinion  this  is  sufficient  because,  after  all,  these 
resolutions  and  decisions  are  the  recapitulation  of  the  whole 
affair,  and  it  is  upon  this  that  the  members  of  the  I.  W.  W.  must 
base  their  conclusions,  I  will  explain  as  much  as  possible  each 
resolution  or  decision.  I  will  also  have  to  refer,  from  time  to 
time,  perhaps,  to  resolutions  and  decisions  adopted  by  the  Com- 
munist International,  in  order  to  draw  out  the  significance  of  the 
measures  adopted  in  the  Red  International. 


Went  with  High  Hopes 

There  was  no  doubt  in  my  mind,  when  I  started  for  Russia, 
after  being  selected  as  a  delegate  by  the  general  convention  of 
the  I.  W.  W.,  that  this  first  Congress  of  the  R.  T.  U.  I.  was  to 
be  a  sincere  effort  to  form  an  International  of  the  revolutionary 
labor  bodies  of  the  world,  and,  moreover,  that  it  would  be 
independent  of  any  political  group.  Indeed,  I  was  enthusiastic 
over  the  thought  that  at  last  the  workers  would  come  together 
at  Moscow  and  weld  together  an  organization  that  would  be  ir- 
resistible. I  am  sure,  too,  that  every  member  also  was  as  inter- 
ested as  myself  in  the  prospect  of  the  I.  W.  W.  becoming  a  unit 
in  a  world  wide  organization.  The  I.  W.  W.  convention  cer- 
tainly looked  with  favor  upon  what  they  thought  was  to  be  an 
International  of  Red  Labor  organizations,  and  the  delegates  there 
spent  much  time  in  extra  sessions  clarifying  the  I.  W.  W.'s  posi- 
tion on  the  subject. 

All  the  information  received  in  America  at  that  time  pointed 
to  an  independent  International.  Hardy,  who  had  just  returned 
from  Russia,  in  his  report  to  the  convention  drew  special  atten- 
tion to  the  attitude  of  the  officials  in  the  Third  International  and 
those  who  were  then  at  the  head  of  the  Provisional  Council  of 
Trade  and  Industrial  Unions.  He  quoted  Tomsky,  who  at  that  time 
was  head  of  the  Provisional  Council  of  Trade  and  Industrial 
Unions,  as  favoring  an  independent  International.  Indeed,  every 
official  in  Russia  seems  to  have  taken  a  position  in  various  degrees 
for  an  independent  International,  according  to  Hardy's  report. 

From  the  stoiTn  that  arose  in  the  I.  W.  W.  over  the  question 
of  balloting  for  endorsement  of  the  Third  International  and  the 
subsequent  withdrawal  of  the  ballot  by  the  G.  E.  B.,  it  was  evi- 
dent that  the  membership  wanted  nothing  to  do  with  a  political 

11 


faction.  On  the  whole,  appearances  seemed  to  indicate  that  the 
undeviating  position  of  the  revolutionary  labor  organizations  in 
North  and  South  America  and  Europe  against  joining  a  political 
faction  was  soon  to  crystalize  itself  into  an  independent  Inter- 
national. 

The  Berlin  Conference 

The  Berlin  International  conference  of  Syndicalists,  in  which 
the  I.  W.  W.  participated,  had  been  held  in  December  of  1920, 
977,000  workers  from  the  various  countries  were  represented, 
and  their  final  conclusion  was  the  adoption  of  six  points  which 
seemed  to  satisfy  them,  and  in  fact  gained  the  endorsement  of 
large  labor  bodies  which  were  not  present.  And  to  my  mind 
they  were  a  fairly  good  basis  on  which  to  form  an  Industrial 
International. 

I,  personally,  had  summed  up  the  whole  situation  before 
going  to  Moscow,  thus : 

"That  the  Communist  International,  after  striving  unsuccess- 
fully to  bring  the  Revolutionary  Syndicalists  and  Industrialists 
into  their  organization  and  perhaps  recognizing  that  they  never 
would  join  as  units,  had  come  to  the  conclusion  that  an  inde- 
pendent International  was  the  only  solution  to  the  problem,  and, 
as  an  independent  International,  they  would  be  far  more  useful 
to  the  Russian  revolution  than  in  their  then  isolated  condition. 
And,  what  is  more  logical,  in  view  of  the  situation,  that  if  these 
revolutionary  labor  bodies  held  to  and  believed  in  their  position, 
it  would  be  of  little  use  in  forcing  affiliation  with  a  political 
faction  on  them.  After  all.  International  Solidarity  was  the 
thing  most  desirable,  in  fact  imperative." 

Being  in  this  state  of  mind,  and,  as  I  have  said  before, 
having  no  doubt  of  the  sincere  desire  of  everybody  con- 
cerned to  foi-m  an  independent  International,!  left  for  Moscow 
with  nothing  but  the  instructions  received  from  the  organiza- 
tion. Had  I,  or  the  delegates  to  the  I.  W.  W.  Convention,  known 
what  course  the  first  Congress  of  the  R.  T.  U.  I.  would  follow,  it 
is  certain  that  much  more  attention  would  have  been  paid  to 
compiling  information  regarding  subjects  dealing  with  the  Amer- 
ican labor  movement. 

But  while  no  thought  was  paid  by  the  convention  to  the  first 
Congress  of  the  R.  T.  U.  I.  other  than  to  suppose  that  it  would 
meet  only  to  form  the  proposed  economic  International  it  was 
not  so  with  the  Communist  elements,  who  from  all  indications 
had  been  feverishly  preparing  for  months  to  descend  on  this  first 
Congress  of  the  R.  T.  U,  I.  en  masse. 

From  very  nearly  every  country,  especially  Argentina, 
Australia,  New  Zealand,  Mexico  and  to  a  lesser  degree  the  coun- 
tries in  Europe,  the  representatives  from  the  revolutionary  labor 
organizations  came  with  nothing  but  simple  instructions  similar 

12 


to  mine,  and  like  myself  anticipating  no  other  problem  than  the 
one  of  binding  their  particular  organizations  together  with  the 
others  the  world  over. 

Communists  Well  Prepared 

But  in  numbers  startling  to  behold,  and  burdened  under  a 
weight  of  documents,  covering  all  phases  of  the  Communist 
theory  of  the  labor  movement,  the  Communist  delegates  of  all 
countries  descended  on  the  first  Congress  of  the  Red  Interna- 
tional, completely  rendering  the  delegates  from  the  Syndicalist 
and  Industrialist  organizations  into  an  insignificant  minority. 
Unfolding  their  voluminous  documents,  they  set  out  to  prove 
that  every  revolutionary  labor  organization  in  whatever  coun- 
try, that  was  in  the  slightest  degree  skeptical  about  joining  the 
Third  International  was  in  truth  nothing  but  "counter-revolu- 
tionists" "in  league  with  the  bourgeoisie"  and  many  other 
names  not  too  pleasant.  They  unlimbered  theses  setting  forth  that 
the  liquidation  of  the  revolutionary  labor  organizations  into  the 
conservative  labor  bodies  of  the  various  countries  was  the  only 
solution.  For  an  organization  like  the  I.  W.  W.  or  the  Syndicalist 
unions  of  Germany  to  maintain  separate  existence  from  the  con- 
servative trade  unions  was  an  unpardonable  crime.  In  short, 
the  whole  proceedings  of  the  Congress  resembled  nothing  more 
than  a  huge  court  session,  in  which  the  high  priests  of  the  Com- 
munist International  were  sitting  in  judgment  over  the  "crim- 
inal" Syndicalists;  called  as  it  were  to  participate  in  their  own 
funeral.  And  what  could  the  insignificant  Syndicalists  do  but 
sit  in  speechless  amazement  at  the  unlooked-for  verbal  tirade 
from  the  high  moguls  of  Communist  intellectuality! 

I  arrived  in  Moscow  on  July  1st  from  Petrograd,  at  which 
place  I  landed  on  June  25th.  I  was  delayed  there  several  days 
waiting  for  my  baggage  and  would  not  have  stopped  if  I  had 
not  been  informed  that  the  Congress  would  not  open  until 
July  17th.  But  on  reaching  Moscow  I  was  told  that  the  Con- 
gress was  to  start  on  the  3rd,  consequently  I  had  only  two  days 
to  prepare  for  the  Congress  and  all  of  this  time  was  taken  up 
with  getting  located  and  seeking  the  proper  officials  to  whom  I 
could  present  my  credentials.  I  was  soon  in  touch  with  three 
fellow  workers,  who  were  acting  as  delegates  (I  have  explained 
about  them  in  my  preliminary  report),  and  they  made  me  ac- 
quainted with  the  situation  insofar  as  the  American  delegation 
was  concerned. 

I  have  explained  briefly  in  the  preliminary  report  as  pub- 
lished in  Industrial  Solidarity  the  manner  in  which  the  delega- 
tions from  the  various  countries  functioned  and  perhaps  it  would 
not  be  out  of  order  to  reprint  it  here,  with  slight  alterations  for 
the  sake  of  clarity. 

Conforming  to  the  manner  in  which  the  Congress  was  or- 

13 


ganized  each  delegation  was  grouped  according  to  country.  Thus, 
for  instance'  ail  American  delegates  (including  Canada)  were 
in  the  American  delegation;  all  English  delegates  in  the  English 
delegation  and  so  on.  These  delegations,  viz.:  American,  Eng- 
lish, French,  German,  Russian  and  others,  were  instructed  to 
hold  meetings  of  their  delegations  and  select  members  for  the 
various  committees,  such  as  credential,  organization,  tactics,  con- 
stitution and  so  forth. 

It  was  also  the  procedure  for  each  delegation  to  apportion 
the  votes  allotted  to  it  among  its  members.  From  this  manner 
of  proceeding  it  is  easy  to  understand  that  the  distribution  of 
votes  was  determined  solely  by  whoever  was  in  the  majority 
on  any  particular  delegation.  I  have  said  something  before 
about  my  protest  against  the  other  members  of  the  American 
delegation,  and  for  the  sake  of  giving  the  members  of  the  I.  W. 
W.  a  better  idea  of  the  dispute  I  offer  a  copy  of  the  statement 
to  the  credential  committee  from  the  other  American  delegates 
regarding  the  distribution  of  votes. 

Division  of  American  Votes 

"1  vote,  Emmons:  Representing  local  unions  No.  337,  Chi- 
cago; No.  225,  Dayton,  Ohio,  and  No.  47,  Denver,  Colo.,  of  the 
International  Association  of  Machinists,  totalling  18,000  mem- 
bers. 

"3  votes,  Crosby:  Representing  Amalgamated  Metal  Work- 
ers, Amalgamated  Food  Workers;  Boot  and  Shoe  Workers; 
and  minority  committee  in  needle  trades,  Boston,  also  Amalga- 
mated Clothing  Workers  minority,  Boston;  totalling  25,000  to 
40,000  members.     These  are  all   independent  industrial   unions. 

"3  votes,  Wells:  Representing  Seattle  Central  Labor  Council, 
American  Federation  of  Labor;  totalling  50,000  members.  This 
organization  is  a  noted  revolutionary  center  in  the  trade  union 
movement  and  conducted  the  greatest  local  general  strike  in  the 
history  of  the  United  States. 

"3  votes,  Williams:  Representing  the  Industrial  Workers  of 
the  World.  This  revolutionary  organization  is  well  known,  and 
needs  no  comment.  According  to  the  information  available  the 
I.  W.  W.  has  a  membership  of  something  less  than  20,000.  The 
total  amount  of  per  capita  tax  paid  into  its  national  headquarters 
for  the  year  from  April  1,  1920,  to  April  1,  1921,  according  to 
the  Secretary-Treasurer's  yearly  report,  was  $47,020.21.  Di- 
viding this  sum  by  $3.00  (the  amount  of  per  capita  paid  by 
each  member  per  year) ,  we  arrive  at  the  figure  of  15,674  as  the 
total  average  membership  of  the  whole  I.  W.  W.  for  the  past 
year.  This  figure  may  not  be  exact;  there  may  be  a  variation 
of  a  thousand  or  two  either  way,  hence  the  delegation  has  not 
adhered  strictly  to  the  principle  of  proportional  representation 

14 


in  this  case,  which  would  give  the  I.  W.  W.  one,  or  at  most  two, 
votes  and  has  given  to  the  I.  W.  W.  three  votes,  which  it  con- 
siders full  and  complete  representation. 

"3  votes,  Batt :  Representing  the  Detroit  Federation  of  Labor, 
of  the  American  Federation  of  Labor,  totalling  60,000  members. 
The  Detroit  Federation  of  Labor  is  one  of  the  most  militant  and 
revolutionary  organizations  in  America. 

"3  votes,  Dixon :  Representing  the  Kansas  miners,  the  United 
Labor  Council  of  New  York,  and  the  Trade  Union  Educational 
League  of  Kansas  City,  with  a  combined  membership  of  75,000 
to  80,000  members.  To  facilitate  the  division  of  votes  in  the 
delegation,  Delegate  Dixon  waived  his  claim  to  additional  votes. 

"(Signed)  JOS.  DIXON, 

"Sec'y  American  Trade  Union  Delegation. 

Moscow,  July  5,  1921." 

All  of  the  American  delegates  had  been  in  Moscow  at  least 
a  month  before  my  arrival,  and  consequently  the  work  of  placing 
the  members  from  this  delegation  on  various  committees  had  been 
completed. 

The  three  fellow  workers  whom  I  have  already  mentioned 
in  my  preliminary  report  as  being  in  Moscow,  had,  upon  my 
arrival,  told  me  that  they  were  practically  ignored  and  withal 
outnumbered  in  the  deliberations  of  the  American  delegation, 
and  in  a  spirit  of  disgust  had  ceased  to  attend  the  meetings.  I 
had  some  notes  on  this  subject,  but  they  are  with  the  other 
stuff  that  has  not  arrived.  However,  I  attended  a  meeting  of 
this  American  delegation  the  day  after  I  arrived  in  Moscow,  and 
it  was  obvious  from  their  actions  that  they  were  organized  to 
carry  out  the  dictates  of  the  Communist  program,  and  more- 
over, with  two  exceptions  (Wells  and  Crosby)  displayed  a  bitter 
antagonism  against  the  L  W.  W. 

Hostility  to  I.  W.  W. 

Strange  to  say  and  harder  to  believe,  for  many  in  this 
country,  there  is  a  hostile  attitude  against  the  I.  W.  W.  among 
the  officials  in  Moscow.  Some  of  it  is  due,  supposedly,  to  Sand- 
gren's  articles  in  the  0.  B.  U.  Monthly.  But  it  is  my  opinion 
that  most  of  it  comes  from  the  fundamental  differences  that 
exist  between  the  Communist  and  the  Industrial  theory  of  organ- 
ization. Sandgren's  name  is  linked  merely  to  hide  the  deeper 
reasons.  As  proof  of  this,  witness  the  hostile  attitude  main- 
tained in  Moscow  against  any  revolutionary  organization  that  has 
rejected  affiliation  with  the  Third  International.  One  and  all 
they  are  vilified.  I  repeat,  that  it  is  strange  to  say  this,  in  re- 
membrance of  the  many  stories  that  have  been  told  regarding 

16 


the  affection  with  which  the  I.  W.  W.  were  held  in  Moscow. 
Whatever  might  be  the  individual  sentiment  of  those  on  top  in 
the  Communist  circles,  it  is  certain  that  lower  down  on  the  scale 
of  Moscow's  officialdom  one  hears  little  praise  and  much  abuse 
of  everything  I.  W.  W.  It  might  be  granted  that  a  former 
favorable  sentiment  did  exist,  but  the  disappearance  of  this  senti- 
ment might  be  attributable  to  the  fact  that  these  officials  are 
no  longer  in  Moscow;  others  are  in  their  places,  which  fact 
is  significant  to  anyone  who  knows  the  Communist  Party  of 
Russia. 

A  Communist  Chairman 

The  Congress  of  the  R.  T.  U.  I.  was  conducted  on  the  agenda 
plan  with  such  additions  as  were  appropriate  and  necessary  to 
make  the  way  of  the  machine  as  smooth  as  possible. 

The  Chairman  of  the  Convention  can  be  no  other  than  the 
General  Secretary  of  the  Red  International,  and  Losovsky  who 
now  holds  that  position,  will  be  the  chairman  of  the  next  one 
and  all  others  as  long  as  he  suits  the  high  priests  of  the  Com^- 
munist  International.  Nor  will  anyone  else  function  in  connec- 
tion with  the  Red  International  without  the  approval  of  the  Com- 
munists. The  General  Secretary  of  the  Red  International  is 
elected  by  the  Executive  Bureau,  consisting  of  seven  members. 

These  are  Losovsky  and  Nogen,  Russia;  Tom  Mann,  Eng- 
land; Anton  Meyer,  Germany;  Arlandis,  Spain;  Andreytchine, 
America.  The  seventh  seat  is  vacant  because  of  difference  among 
the  Italians  and  French.  The  members  of  this  Executive  Bureau 
are  all  Communists  with  the  possible  exception  of  Tom  Mann 
who,  like  Andreytchine,  represents  nobody.  This  executive  bureau 
is  the  supreme  body  of  the  Red  International  and  its  members 
are  chosen  by  the  Central  Council,  which  is  in  turn  created  by 
each  national  delegation  that  attends  the  Congress,  who  elect 
from  among  their  number  their  quota  to  the  Central  Council. 
Now  as  the  national  delegations  are  always  assured  of  a  major- 
ity of  Communists  by  the  system  of  admitting  Communist  minor- 
ities, it  is  plain  to  see  that  there  will  never  be  any  other  but 
Communists  in  control  of  the  Red  International.  Regarding  the 
rules  governing  the  Congress  they  Were  simple — there  were 
none  as  far  as  I  could  discover.  I  asked  about  them  but  every- 
body pleaded  ignorance,  but  by  diligent  observation  I  learned 
that  Losovsky  was  the  fountain  head  of  all  rules,  and  whatever 
he  said  could  be  depended  upon  as  an  established  rule  unless 
some  situation,  in  his  opinion,  called  for  a  reversal  of  former 
decisions. 

The  Steam  Roller 

The  manner  of  making  and  deciding  motions  deserves  com- 
ment. When  anyone  would  get  up  and  put  forth  a  proposition 
that  did  not  agree  with  the  views  of  the  chairman,  he  would 
immediately  put  his  own  proposition  before  th«  house,  call  off 

16 


debate  and  call  for  a  decision,  thus ;  "Is  any  one  against  the  prop- 
osition of  the  chairman?  No  objection  is  noted."  The  first  propo- 
sition is  wrecked  automatically. 

The  chairman  can  cut  off  debate  any  time  with  no  more 
effort  than  a  wave  of  the  hand.  Only  once  during  the  whole 
conference  was  the  floor  given  to  a  delegate  over  the  ruling  of 
the  chairman,  and  he  consented  to  putting  the  question  before 
the  house  only  after  the  delegates  showed  signs  of  giving  the 
floor  to  the  delegate  without  his  leave. 

The  chief  difficulty  in  the  Congress  and  that  which  was  an 
ever  present  obstacle  to  a  common  understanding  on  any  subject 
was  the  fact  that  very  few  of  the  delegates  understood  any  but 
their  own  language. 

English,  French,  German  and  Russian  were  the  official  lan- 
guages used.  These  were  the  four  principal  groups  in  the  Con- 
gress. All  the  daily  bulletins  and  the  other  matter  pertaining 
to  resolutions  and  theses,  were  printed  in  these  languages.  But 
because  of  poor  facilities  the  printed  proceedings  of  the  Con- 
gress in  English  were  lagging  far  behind  the  others.  When  I 
left  Moscow  one  month  after  the  close  of  the  Red  International 
Congress,  very  little  had  been  printed  in  English.  However, 
the  other  languages  fared  better,  and  delegates  from  Russia, 
France  and  Germany  were  able  to  gather  a  fairly  complete  ac- 
count of  the  Congress.  It  is  worth  noting,  too,  in  connection 
with  this,  that  the  Congress  of  the  Third  International  was  in 
session,  and  between  the  two  sessions  the  printing  establishments 
were  swamped. 

The  lack  of  matter  printed  in  English  was  an  obstacle  in 
more  ways  than  one.  It  caused  a  very  great  scarcity  in  printed 
theses,  reports,  and  resolutions  which  were  necessary  to  keep  in 
touch  with  the  viewpoints  of  the  delegates  from  other  coun- 
tries. Instead  of  waiting  to  hear  verbal  reports  and  catching 
only  scraps  of  what  was  said  through  poor  translations  a  writ- 
ten copy  should  have  been  on  hand  to  acquaint  one  with  the 
points  advanced. 

As  it  was,  it  became  necessary  to  depend  on  translators  for 
all  information  on  what  was  said  by  speakers  in  other  languages. 
The  function  of  the  translators  was  one  of  the  most  important 
in  the  entire  Congress.  Upon  them  depended  the  conveyance 
of  thoughts  and  ideas  from  one  language  group  to  another  and 
in  their  hands  dwelt  the  power  to  transmit  correctly  or  incor- 
rectly what  was  said.  It  would,  of  course,  be  unreasonable  to 
suppose  that  a  translator,  however  good  or  fair,  could  translate 
word  for  word,  everything  that  was  said,  yet  it  is  easy  to  con- 
cede that  if  a  translator  opposes  the  ideas  of  a  speaker  it  is  no 
trick  to  translate  the  matter  entirely  wrong,  so  that  those  listen- 
ing to  his  translation  would  get  a  distorted  account  of  what  was 
said. 

17 


An  S.  L.  P.  Translator 

One  of  the  foremost  translators  in  the  Red  Congress  was 
Boris  Reinstein,  who  was  a  conspicuous  member  of  the  S.  L.  P. 
in  America  before  going  to  Russia.  Reinstein  is  opposed  to  any- 
thing I.  W.  W.  He  is  now  a  prominent  member  of  the  Russian 
Communist  Party,  and  besides  having  a  special  dislike  for  the 
Wobblies  he  dislikes  any  other  organization  that  does  not  agree 
with  the  Communist  theory. 

Another  translator  was  a  woman,  who  bore  the  reputation 
of  speaking  fourteen  languages.  She  acted  also  in  the  same 
capacity  at  the  Congress  of  the  Communist  International.  She 
included  English  in  her  catalogue  of  languages.  In  truth  she 
couldn't  speak  enough  English  to  match  a  pupil  in  a  kinder- 
garten. 

Reinstein  and  other  translators  were  compelled  to  function 
in  both  congresses,  the  Red  and  Communist,  because  of  a  sup- 
posed scarcity  of  this  talent.  But  this  was  not  true,  as  there 
were  many  in  Moscow  who  were  capable  of  performing  this 
work.  They  were  not  used,  however,  because  their  views  did 
not  coincide  with  the  powers  that  be.  There  were  two  trans- 
lators who  were  apparently  fair;  one  who  was  attached  to  the 
American  delegation  and  another  with  the  French.  But  Rein- 
stein and  the  woman  were  absolutely  unfair  and  sabotaged  every- 
thing that  was  not  in  accordance  with  the  accepted  faith. 

And,  too,  the  translators  translated  only  the  important 
speeches  and  motions.  Many  disputes  between  the  chair  and 
other  speaking  delegates  over  points  pertaining  to  the  conven- 
tion were  left  untranslated.  In  justice  to  the  situation,  how- 
ever, it  is  only  fair  to  say  that  it  was  physically  impossible  to 
translate  everything;  but  this  fact  made  it  impossible  also  for 
me  to  know  anything  about  what  was  transpiring.  In  fact,  I  was 
at  sea  regarding  what  was  happening  in  every  language  but 
English.  And  the  position  of  the  other  speaking  delegates,  who 
could  only  understand  their  particular  language,  was  the  same 
as  mine.  So  that  nearly  all  the  delegates  were  walled  in  by 
their  language  limitations. 

Looking  at  the  whole  affair  philosophically,  however,  it  did 
not  much  matter,  whether,  in  addition  to  only  understanding 
one  language  you  were  deaf  and  dumb  in  addition,  because, 
after  all,  there  was  only  one  result  possible  in  such  a  Congress, 
stuffed  as  it  was  with  Communists,  and  all  the  talking  and  fret- 
ting that  one  could  easily  have  generated  in  such  an  atmosphere 
would  have  availed  nothing.  The  Congress  was  over  and  deci- 
sions were  made  before  it  started. 

The  story  of  the  Red  International  and  how  it  was  formed 
is  still  cloudy  to  many  in  America.  Few  people  outside  of  the 
Communist  Party  know  that  the  Red  Trade  Union  International 
was  founded  by  the  Executive  Committee  of  the  Third  Interna- 
ls 


tional  long  before  we  ever  heard  of  it  in  America.  Zinoviev  in  his 
report  of  the  Executive"  Committee  of  the  Comintern  to  the  third 
Congress  of  the  Third  International,  says: 

"On  the  initiative  of  our  Executive  Committee  the  Second 
Congress  founded  the  Red  Trade  International.  Tfiat  was 
something  entirely  neiv  at  the  time;  Comrade  Losovsky  has 
collected  the  data  shoiving  that  more  tlian  15,000,000  or- 
ganized tvorkers  already  belong  to  our  Trade  Union  Inter- 
national. Our  first  step  ivas  the  publication  of  a  manifesto 
against  the  Amsterdam,  International,  and  at  this  Congress 
ive  shall  take  another  long  step  forivard.  I  believe  tlmt  the 
significance  of  this  Trade  Union  Congress  is  clear  to  all  of 
W.  Our  struggle  against  the  Amsterdam  International,  this 
last  bulwark  of  the  bourgoisie,  must  be  fought  to  a  finish. 
For  that  reason  this  is  a  most  important  question,  and  the 
Congress  mu^t  devote  its  keenest  attention  to  it.  After  the 
Congress,  this  question  must  be  dealt  with  by  all  affiliated 
parties  as  the  most  important  problem  of  the  day." 

It  is  not  without  reason  that  Zinoviev  uses  the  term,  OUR 
TRADE  UNION  INTERNATIONAL,  as  I  will  show  later. 

From  the  very  first  the  Red  International  was  in  control  of 
the  Communists  and  its  only  function  for  a  long  time  was  to  act 
as  a  bureau  of  the  Comintern,  a  sort  of  a  Trade  Union  section. 
Being  created  by  the  Communists,  it  was  but  natural  that  its 
first  officials  would  be  Communists  and  as  party  members  these 
'officials  could  do  nothing  else  than  guide  the  course  of  the  new 
movement  according  to  Communist  Party  principles. 

Hand-Picked  Labor  Bureaus 

These  selected  leaders  of  the  Red  International  cannot  be 
more  clearly  identified,  nor  the  source  of  their  inspiration  more 
plainly  traced,  than  a  comparison  of  their  ideas  with  those  of  the 
Moscow  politicians.  Everywhere  in  all  the  theses  coming  from 
the  Red  International  heads  one  sees  the  finger  prints  of  the 
two-by-four  intellectuals  that  constitute  the  center  of  the  Third 
International.  Indeed,  they  are  all  of  one  political  family.  Lo- 
sovsky is  a  member  of  the  central  committee  of  the  Russian  Com- 
munist Party  and  his  foreign  co-workers  (at  the  time  of  the 
formation  of  the  Provisional  Council  of  Trade  and  Industrial 
Unions  and  even  now)  are  all  high  officials  in  the  Communist  par- 
ties of  their  respective  countries.  The  parentage  of  the  Red  Inter- 
national being  thus  established,  it  takes  but  little  effort  to  see 
that  any  additions  made  to  the  R.  T.  U.  I.  would  automatically 
pass  under  the  control  of  the  Communist  International.  In  every 
large  country  immediately  after  the  formation  of  the  Red  Inter- 
national, Red  labor  bureaus  were  set  up,  officered  by  Communists 
and  financed  by  the  Communist  International.  The  duties  of  these 

19 


outfits  (especially  before  the  first  Congress  of  the  Red  Intel^- 
national)  were  to  organize  a  corps  of  Communist  delegates  from 
whatever  source  possible  (I  have  already  described  how  minori- 
ties are  created) ,  and  to  keep  informed  about  the  labor  movement 
and  its  attitude  towards  Russia.  But  its  chief  function  was  to 
dispatch  enough  Communist  delegates  to  the  Red  International 
and  thus  insure  a  majority  over  whatever  organizations  decided 
to  participate.  And  naturally  what  the  New  York  Red  Labor 
Bureau  succeeded  in  doing  to  the  American  delegation  was  dupli- 
cated in  all  other  countries.  The  New  York  Red  Labor  Bureau 
paid  the  expenses  of  all  delegates  sent  over  by  them  and  besides, 
for  those  who  had  families,  it  allowed  $25.00  a  week  for  their 
maintenance  while  they  were  away.  There  is  nothing  so  bad  about 
this,  only  that  it  indicates  that  everyone  sent  over  under  such 
conditions  no  doubt  had  the  Communist  conception  of  labor  unions 
well  impressed  on  their  minds.  In  view  then  of  what  I  have  said 
so  far  in  this  installment  it  is  not  such  a  startling  assertion  on 
my  part  when  I  said:  "The  Congress  of  the  Red  International 
was  over  and  all  decisions  were  made  before  it  started." 

The  reader  will  have  to  overlook  the  faulty  style  adopted  in 
this  report  of  going  back  over  ground  already  covered,  because, 
depending  on  memory  and  having  very  few  documents,  I  am 
unable  to  take  up  each  phase  of  the  situation  and  discuss  it  ex- 
haustively. So  in  order  to  trace  further  the  Communist  control 
of  the  Congress  of  the  R.  T.  U.  I.  I  will  discuss  again  the  cre- 
dential committee,  as  this  was  the  last  process  in  the  pastime 
of  manufacturing  delegates  out  of  pure  wind. 

The  Credential  Committee 

I  do  not  know  how  or  by  whom  the  credential  committee  that 
functioned  as  such  for  the  Red  International  was  created.  How- 
ever, I  do  know  that  they  were  all  Communists.  And  I  know  that 
no  credential  committee  was  ever  elected  from  the  floor  of  the 
Congress,  although  the  election  of  such  a  committee  was  called  for. 
And  further,  no  list  was  ever  furnished  containing  the  names 
of  delegates  present  and  the  organizations  they  represented, 
which  was  also  called  for.  The  mandates  of  the  delegates  were 
carefully  guarded  from  inspection  and  it  was  only  after  persist- 
ent demands  that  I  was  allowed  a  very  hurried  glance  at  the 
mandates  of  the  American  delegation  against  whom  I  protested. 
The  only  members  of  the  credential  committee  whose  names  I 
can  recollect  without  my  notes  are:  Boris  Reinstein,  Russia; 
Bela  Santo,  Hungaiy;  Watkins,  England,  While  the  credential 
committee  issued  no  complete  report,  Reinstein  did  appear  be- 
fore the  Congress  in  his  capacity  as  secretary  of  the  committee 
with  decisions  by  that  body  on  the  disputes  that  arose  in  the 
different  delegations  over  the  distribution  of  votes,  and,  as  these 
decisions  are  worthy  of  mention,  if  only  to  portray  their  attitude, 

20 


I  will  quote  some  of  them  here.  The  following  concerns  the 
dispute  between  Cascaden,  who  was  sent  by  the  Lumber  Workers 
of  Eastern  Canada,  and  Knight,  who  represented  the  0.  B.  U. 
of  Canada : 

(Reinstein)  "The  case  is  as  follows:  Cascaden  arrived 
in  Moscow  and  presented  his  credentials.  For  unknown 
reasons  he  refused  to  give  us  any  information  on  the  attitude 
of  his  organization  on  the  fundamental  principles  of  the 
International  Council  of  Trade  Unions.  In  particular  he 
declined  to  give  us  information  of  the  attitude  of  his  organ- 
ization with  regard  to  the  question  of  the  dictatorship  of  the 
proletariat.  When  the  credentials  committee,  before  taking 
the  decision  as  to  his  right  to  vote,  again  interviewed  him 
thereon,  it  became  clear  that  HE  WAS  THE  REPRESENT- 
ATIVE OF  THE  ANARCHIST  ELEMENT  OF  THE 
ORGANIZATION  OF  THE  "ONE  BIG  UNION,"  AND 
THAT  HE  WAS  INCLINED  TO  CONSIDER  THE  DIC- 
TATORSHIP OF  THE  PROLETARIAT  IN  THE  WAY 
MANY  OTHER  ANARCHISTS  DO,  viz.:  AS  A  NEW 
FORM  OF  STATE   OPPRESSION. 

"As  a  result,  the  credential  committee  decided  to  give 
Comrade  Cascaden  a  consultative  vote  only. 

"Some  comrades  of  the  Spanish  and  French  delegations 
demanded  then  that  Comrade  Cascaden  be  given  a  decisive 
vote.  On  his  part  he  handed  in  a  statement  in  which  he 
acknowledged  the  dictatorship  of  the  proletariat  as  a  pro- 
visional measure,  but  only  as  a  dictatorship  carried  out  by 
economic  organizations  and  not  by  a  political  organization." 

The  credentials  committee  finally  decided  to  give  Cascaden 
a  decisive  vote. 

What  is  particularly  interesting  in  Cascaden's  case  is  that 
he  was  first  refused  a  vote  on  the  grounds  of  suspected  an- 
archism. 

Now  the  credential  committee  is  reporting  on  the  dispute  in 
the  American  delegation: 

Disposing  of  the  I.  W.  W. 

(Reinstein)  "It  must  be  noted  here  that  it  is  impossible 
to  state  with  any  certainty  the  exact  membership  of  the 
I.  W.  W.  after  this  organization  has  been  in  the  field  for 
16  years.  According  to  Williams  himself  his  organization 
has  from  70,000  to  100,000;  but,  according  to  the  figures 
presented  at  the  Communist  Congress  and  the  itemized  state- 
ment of  the  receipts  of  the  central  treasury  of  this  organiza- 
tion, it  has  a  membership  of  15,000  or  16,000. 

"The    credential    committee    discussed    the    question    and 

21 


came  to  the  conclusion  that  the  motion  made  by  the  com-- 
rades  against  whom  WilHams  protested  should  be  carried 
and,  with  the  exception  of  the  one  vote  to  be  given  to  the 
machinists'  delegates,  three  decisive  votes  be  given  to  each 
one  of  the  five  American  delegates.  We  consider  this  decision 
perfectly  just." 

I  had  pointed  out  before  to  the  credential  committee  and  the 
Congress  that  the  figures  from  which  the  membership  was  de- 
duced were  incomplete  and  besides  I  maintained  that  it  was  not  a 
question  of  the  amount  of  membership,  but  of  principle.  Besides, 
no  question  was  ever  raised  concerning  the  financial  statements 
of  the  other  delegates  of  organizations  they  claimed  to  repre- 
sent.   But  this  fell  on  deaf  ears,  naturally. 

On  the  Geraian  question,  Reinstein  gives  us  an  insight  into 
the  situation  (but  not  all)  and  it  looks  quite  like  what  one  would 
naturally  expect. 

(Reinstein)  "As  to  the  German  question  still  disputed, 
the  German  delegates  are,  no  doubt,  well  informed  as  to  the 
facts  and  merits  of  the  case.  Comrade  Malzan  (Communist) 
maintains,  in  the  name  of  the  central  committee  of  the 
trade  union  movement  formed  by  the  United  Communist 
Party  of  Germany  that  out  of  the  total  of  9,000,000  or- 
ganized workers  belonging  to  the  large  and  so-called  Free 
German  Trade  Unions,  2,200,000  side  with  the  Red  Inter- 
national." 

The  representatives  of  the  independent  unions  in  Germany 
claimed  that  these  figures  were  mythical  and  there  was  no  way 
in  which  they  could  be  checked  up.  Yet  Reinstein,  speaking  for 
the  committee,  says: 

"The  credentials  committee  heard  and  discussed  the  ar- 
guments of  the  representatives  of  both  parties  concerned 
and  finally  decided  that  it  would  be  more  equitable  and 
adapted  to  the  interest  of  trade  unions  to  grant  11  votes 
to  the  representation  of  the  central  committee  (Communist 
minority)  of  the  trade  union  movement,  directing  the  ac- 
tivities among  the  massed  trade  unions  of  Germany  and 
distribute  the  remaining  5  votes  among  the  representatives 
of  the  independent  opposition  to  the  trade  unions." 

As  a  Communist  clincher  to  the  German  dispute,  Richard 
Muller  (Communist)  said: 

"A  ballot  carried  on  in  the  trade  unions  in  favor  of  the 
United  Communist  Party  of  GeiTnany,  in  other  words  for 
Moscow,  gives  the  following  figures: 

"The  Agricultural  Workers'  union,  150,000;  the  Brick- 
layers and  Builders  150,000;  the  Wood  Workers,  300,000; 
the  Transport  and  Communication  Workers,  275,000;  the 
Needle  Workers,  96,000;  the  Factory  Workers,  60,000." 

22 


Communist  Arithmetic 

The  truth  of  the  whole  matter  is  that  no  such  vote  was 
taken  except  in  a  few  isolated  unions,  and  even  then  it  was  not 
a  clear  cut  vote.  It  concerned  Amsterdam  and  naturally  those 
who  did  not  favor  Amsterdam  were  immediately  seized  on  by 
the  United  Communist  Party  as  the  property  of  Moscow.  And 
the  2,000,000  workers  which  the  German  Communists  number 
as  theirs  was  arrived  at  by  the  simple  process  of  multiplying 
the  few  votes  in  the  scattered  unions  by  the  whole  German 
labor  movement.  Anybody  who  knows  anything  about  the  Ger- 
man labor  movement  will  agree  that  if  the  so-called  central  com- 
mittee of  the  German  trade  union  movement  had  2,000,000  mem- 
bers they  would  bust  the  conservative  unions  wide  open  in  that 
country.    They  would  have  undisputed  control. 

But  there  was  no  disputing  the  credential  committee  because 
the  majorities  they  were  instrumental  in  creating  would  cer- 
tainly uphold  them. 

The  position  of  the  Spanish  delegation  regarding  the  dis- 
tribution of  votes  was  descriptive  of  the  general  sentiment 
amongst  the  Syndicalist  and  Industrialist  delegations  and  sums 
up  their  objection  to  the  credential  committee  decisions.  It  is 
as  follows: 

The  Spanish  Protest 

''The  Spanish  delegation  believes  that  the  present  Con- 
gress in  Moscow  is  a  Constituent  Congress  of  all  revolution- 
ary labor  organizations  especially  of  those  organizations  which 
have  from  the  very  beginning  of  the  Russian  revolution  and, 
to  a  certain  extent,  before  it,  fought  the  reformist  policy 
of  the  Amsterdam  International.  We  think  the  history  of 
the  European  and  American  trade  union  movement  indicates 
that  there  are  organized  forces  which  must  be  reckoned  with 
especially  at  the  Constitutent  Congress  of  the  Red  Interna- 
tional. We  think  that  the  history  of  the  Spanish  proletariat, 
which  during  all  these  years  was  true  to  its  revolutionary 
platfoiTti,  that  the  history  of  the  French  proletariat,  whose 
principles  were  always  based  on  the  independence  of  the 
trade  union  movement  and  the  fight  against  all  political 
parties,  and  which  strove  towards  a  labor  policy  of  economic 
struggle;  that  the  history  of  the  American  proletanat,  the 
I.  W.  W.,  which  has  always  supported  the  very  same  ideas 
and  tactics  as  put  forward  by  the  revolutionary  proletariat 
of  Europe — we  think  that  all  these  elements  should  be  granted 
a  sufficient  number  of  votes  to  make  their  influence  effective. 

"We  must  include  the  revolutionary  minority  of  Holland 
and  other  revolutionary  minorities  (I  speak  from  the  Syn- 
dicalist point  of  view)    which  represent  already  a  most  im- 

23 


posing  force.  In  Germany  we  have  to  add  three  such  or- 
ganizations, which,  breaking  off  from  Amsterdam,  have  now 
against  the  latter  a  strong  body  of  400,000  men.  We  ex- 
pected that  all  this  would  be  taken  into  consideration  by 
the  Constituent  Congress  of  Red  Trade  Unions;  but  our  ex- 
pectations were  disappointed.  We  find  that  a  decision  was 
already  accepted  here  to  create  a  majority,  which  we  may 
already  call  the  fictitious  majority.  There  is,  thus,  a  feeling 
that  there  is  a  readiness  to  suppress  the  true  revolutionary 
tendencies  of  International  Sjmdicalism  and  give  our  Trade 
Union  International  orders  which  a  part  of  the  west  Euro- 
pean proletariat  will  not  accept,  whatever  the  decisions  of  this 
Congress.  On  the  other  hand  here  are  present  countries  in 
which  there  are  no  revolutionary  Syndicalist  organizations 
at  all,  or  of  little  influence.  And  all  these  organizations  were 
given  decisive  votes. 

"In  other  countries,  such  as  America,  Germany  and 
Czecho-Slovakia,  where  the  trade  union  centers  are  not  yet 
in  favor  of  the  Moscow  International  and  are  still  remaining 
partisans  of  the  Amsterdam  International,  and  only  a  small 
number  of  nuclei  adheres  to  Moscow,  these  nuclei,  which  are 
even  unable  to  give  the  number  of  members  they  are  repre- 
senting pretend  to  have  a  majority  of  votes  within  the  dele- 
gations of  these  countries.  It  is  said  that  the  German 
nuclei  are  given  the  same  16  decisive  votes  as  are  given  to 
the  large  organizations  of  France  and  Spain.  It  is,  there- 
fore, our  opinion,  that  the  first  place  should  not  belong  to 
these  nuclei  which,  as  Comrade  Williams  pointed  out,  can 
easily  present  themselves  with  doubtful  millions  of  votes,  but 
to  those  organizations  which  by  their  past,  by  their  tactics 
and  by  their  everyday  struggle  represent,  from  a  Syndicalist 
point  of  view,  a  real  revolutionary  power. 

"We  declare  that  such  countries  as  Azerbeidjan,  Bukhara, 
Palestine,  India,  represented  here,  and  about  whose  trade 
union  movement  we  are  unable  to  judge,  should  not  be  given 
a  decisive  vote  in  order  that  the  western  proletariat  which, 
even  according  to  Mancian  theories,  represented  for  many 
years  past  a  revolutionary  force,  should  have  the  possibility 
of  defining  the  orientation  to  be  adopted  by  the  organizations 
afliliated  to  the  International  of  Trade  Unions.  That  is  why 
those  who  signed  this  declaration  protest  against  a  decisive  vote 
being  given  to  the  countries  mentioned  previous  to  their  having 
supplied  data  on  the  character  and  force  of  their  organiza- 
tions." 

I  will  wind  up  the  discussion  on  the  credential  committee 
controversy  by  explaining  as  briefly  as  possible  how  the  coun- 
tries were  grouped  into  vote  allotments. 

In  the  first  group  having  16  votes  were:  Germany,  France, 

24 


England,  Russia,  United  States,  Italy,  Spain,  Poland  and  Eastern 
Galicia,  and  Czecho-Slovakia. 

In  the  second  group  with  12  votes  each  were  Austria,  Hun- 
gary, Bulgaria,  Jugo-SIavia,  Ukraine,  Norway,  Australia,  Argen- 
tina. 

In  the  third  group  with  8  votes  each  were  Belgium,  Holland, 
Switzerland,  Roumania,  Ireland  (  no  Irish  delegate  present), 
Canada,  Mexico,  Greece,  Sweden,  Denmark,  Finland,  Far  East- 
ern Republic,  Azerbeidjan. 

In  the  fourth  group  with  4  votes  each  such  countries  as 
Latvia,  Korea  India,  Palestine  and  Esthonia. 

In  the  following  countries  only  Communist  minorities  were 
present:  Russia,  Italy,  Poland,  Eastern  Galicia,  Czecho-Slovakia, 
Austria,  Hungary,  Australia,  Belgium,  Switzerland,  Roumania, 
Greece,  Finland,  Latvia,  Korea,  India,  Palestine  and  Esthonia. 
In  countries  like  the  United  States,  England,  Geraiany  and  France 
and  all  others  not  placed  by  me  in  the  class  as  having  com- 
plete Communist  minorities,  these  delegations  were  controlled 
by  the  Communist  delegates  or,  in  other  words,  the  Communists 
had  the  majority  of  votes.  Spain  is  the  only  country  that  was 
not  controlled  by  Communist  minorities. 

C.  P.  Rules  Russian  Unions 

I  have  mentioned  Russia  as  being  in  the  class  of  having  only 
Communist  minorities,  because  it  is  a  fact  beyond  successful 
contradiction  that  the  Russian  unions  are  completely  under  the 
control  of  the  Russian  Communist  Party.  Its  officials  are  all 
party  members,  who  are  not  elected  by  the  rank  and  file,  but 
are  selected  by  the  Central  Committee  of  the  Communist  Party 
of  Russia.  I  place  Italy  in  the  same  position,  because  the  dele- 
gates from  the  Syndicalist  organizations  in  that  country  did  not 
appear  in  Moscow  until  the  end  of  the  Congress,  and  during 
the  sessions  only  one  delegate  was  present  who  represented 
the  so-called  Communist  minorities  in  the  conservative  unions 
of  Italy.  Representatives  of  Italian  conservative  unions  did  ap- 
pear but  did  not  participate  in  the  Congress;  Australia,  too,  be- 
cause no  delegates  from  labor  organizations  arrived  in  time  to 
participate  in  the  Congress  (those  who  sat  in  the  Congress  were 
admittedly  representing  the  nuclei)  ;  Finland,  because  its  dele- 
gates were  permanent  residents  of  Russia,  all  Communists  and 
had  not  been  in  Finland  for  some  time.  One  of  the  Finnish 
delegates  was  Laukki,  a  member  of  the  I.  W.  W.  and  one  of  the 
Chicago  defendants. 

The  delegation  of  England  was  controlled  by  the  Communists 
absolutely.  There  was  a  pretense  of  using  the  old  Shop  Stewards 
movement  as  a  camouflage  for  some  of  the  delegates,  but  every- 
one knows  that  the  Shop  Stewards  movement  has  been  liquidated 

25 


into  the  Communist  Party  of  England,  with  the  result  that  the 
oro-anization  has  practically  disappeared  from  the  field.  A  fittmg 
testimonial  of  what  politicians  will  do  to  a  movement! 

That  is  all  there  is  to  say  about  the  delegations.  It  is  not 
much  but  it  is  as  much  as  any  individual  delegate  knows  about 
their  makeup.  The  whole  dark  secret  of  what  organization  each 
individual  present  as  a  delegate  represented  in  documentary  form 
is  in  the  hands  of  the  officials  of  the  Red  International,  and  will 
never  be  produced  or  printed  for  the  examination  of  everybody 
concerned. 

There  were  several  points  of  division  between  the  Communist 
majority  and  the  Syndicalist  minority  at  the  Congress.  Old 
differences  reappeared  that  have  always  existed,  and  perhaps 
always  will  continue  to  divide  the  adherents  of  political  and  in- 
dustrial theory;  although  this  time  it  appears  in  new  roles,  bears 
new  names,  and  is  set  in  the  scenery  of  revolutionary,  Russia. 
But  the  controversy  was  as  sharp  and  as  irreconcilable  as  before. 
It  split  the  First  International  and  everything  else.  It  is  still 
the  question: 

The  Basic  DiflFerence 

"Is  the  industrial  movement  as  a  weapon,  sufficient  to  over- 
throw capitalism  and  establish  a  Workers'  Industrial  Common- 
wealth, or  is  this  function  only  possible  through  the  direction  of 
a  political  machine?" 

Disputes  on  the  "dictatorship  of  the  proletariat,"  relations 
with  the  Communist  International  and  the  policy  of  boring  from 
within  the  conservative  trade  unions  were  all  bound  up  in  the 
above  question. 

There  was  an  underground  current  manifested  against  the 
Moscow  interpretation  of  the  "dictatorship  of  the  proletariat" 
among  the  Syndicalist  element,  which  revealed  itself  by  their 
insistence  in  describing  their  position  as:  "The  dictatorship  by 
the  proletariat  through  their  economic  organizations."  The  reason 
for  this  difference  is  plain.  The  Russian  version  means  the  su- 
premacy of  the  political  group  over  the  industrial  group.  The 
Syndicalist  version  means  the  supremacy  of  the  economic  organ- 
izations over  the  political  organizations.  And  the  whole  thing 
(putting  it  plainly)  means  that  the  two  ideas  cannot  exist  side 
by  side.    One  or  the  other  must  go. 

The  question  of  the  relations  with  the  Communist  Interna- 
tional also  brought  into  a  sharp  conflict  the  opposing  elements. 
According  to  the  Communist  element  the  Red  International  must 
place  itself  under  the  ideological  guidance  of  the  Third  Inter- 
national because  they  are  the  intelligent  fighting  vanguard  of 
the  revolution.  The  Syndicalists  maintained  that  the  Red  Inter- 
national must  be  absolutely  independent  of  any  political  group 
and  left  unencumbered  to  pursue  their  own  policy  of  building 

26 


up  revolutionary  economic  organizations  for  the  construction  of 
the  New  Society.  This  question  also  revealed  the  utter  impossi- 
bility of  agreeing  and  the  question  is  as  unsettled  today  as  it 
was  before  the  Congress. 

The  question  of  "boring  from  within  the  old  trade  unions" 
and  an  abandonment  of  the  policy  of  setting  up  revolutionary 
organizations  outside  of,  and  independent  of  the  consei^ative 
trade  unions,  was  the  point  on  which  the  sharpest  debates  arose, 
and  on  which  the  Congress  divided  itself  into  two  irreconcilable 
camps  with  no  hope  of  agreement.  The  policy  of  one  meant 
the  death  of  the  other.  In  brief  the  Communist  policy  means 
that  all  independent  organizations  of  any  country  that  have  op- 
posed the  larger  conservative  unions  on  the  field  of  labor  must 
liquidate  into  the  conservative  unions  and  by  carrying  on  a 
systematic  campaign  capture  these  conservative  unions.  (I  will 
discuss  this  together  with  the  relations  to  the  Third  International 
later.)  The  Syndicalists  opposed  this  energetically  on  the  ground 
that  it  is  impossible  to  capture  the  conservative  unions,  and 
moreover,  they  objected  to  destroying  themselves  and  abandoning 
the  field  to  the  politicians. 

There  was  but  one  result  to  a  congress  that  separated  itself 
so  distinctly  into  two  groups,  and  as  the  Communists  had  the 
majority  in  the  open  session  of  the  Congress,  the  Syndicalists 
naturally  took  to  closed  sessions  of  their  own.  And  during  the 
last  days  of  the  Congress  and  those  immediately  following,  the 
Syndicalist  delegates,  including  myself,  held  meetings  in  a  hotel 
room  every  night  in  an  endeavor  to  formulate  a  program,  and 
arrive  at  a  common  understanding  as  to  what  should  be  done  in 
the  face  of  their  hopeless  situation. 

The  majority  of  the  Syndicalist  delegates  were  actuated  into 
holding  minority  conferences  by  the  extreme  necessity  of  clari- 
fying their  position.  But  while  the  minority  Syndicalists  were 
reluctant  to  adopt  opposition  methods,  yet  they  were  literally 
forced  to  at  least  make  an  attempt  to  check  what  was  evidently 
a  deliberate  sabotage  on  the  formation  of  an  economic  Inter- 
national by  the  Communists.  It  was  along  towards  the  end  of 
the  Congress  before  any  attempt  was  made  to  bring  the  Syndi- 
calists together,  and  only  two  meetings  were  held  before  adjourn- 
ment.  Several  were  held  after. 

The  position  in  which  the  Syndicalists  found  themselves  was 
one  that  called  for  action.  The  Communist  element  in  the  Con- 
gress, besides  being  bent  on  adopting  a  program  that  would  de- 
stroy the  smaller  revolutionary  labor  bodies  and  place  the 
Red  International  under  the  complete  domination  of  the  Third 
International,  were  advertising  to  the  world  that  an  unanimous 
opinion  prevailed  in  the  Congress  on  all  points  of  discussion. 
The  only  way  in  which  the  Syndicalist  opposition  could  extri- 
cate itself  from  this  false  position  was  to  hold  conferences  and 

27 


define  their  program  to  the  various  revolutionary  labor  bodies 
of  the  world. 

These  conferences  were  not  productive  of  much  results,  for 
many  reasons.  There  was  the  difficulty  of  language,  which 
made  it  almost  impossible  to  understand  one  another.  It  was 
hard  to  get  translators  and  what  few  were  available  could  not 
always  function.  Very  often  we  found  ourselves  without  the  aid 
of  any  translators. 

Besides  the  difficulties  of  language  there  was  a  divergence 
of  opinion  among  the  delegates  on  what  stand  to  take.  Some 
(before  the  adjournment  of  the  Congress)  were  in  favor  of  im- 
mediately withdrawing  from  the  sessions  as  a  protest  against  the 
steam  roller  methods  of  the  Communist  Party.  They  argued  that 
it  was  useless  to  stay,  indulging  in  hopeless  debate  and  always 
in  the  presence  of  inevitable  defeat.  Others  maintained  that 
the  right  course  would  be  to  stay  in  the  Congress  and  oppose 
the  Communist  majority  as  an  organized  minority.  Later,  after 
the  Congress,  several  conferences  were  held  in  an  endeavor  to 
reach  an  agreement  before  the  delegates  left,  but,  while  several 
statements  were  drawn  up  and  signed  by  everyone.  It  was  found 
impossible  to  agree  on  a  definite  line  of  action.  Of  course,  this 
was  natural  because  participation  in  minority  conferences  out- 
side of  the  regular  sessions  of  the  Congress  was  a  thing  that 
was  entirely  unlooked  for  and  none  of  the  Syndicalist  delegates 
had  power  to  act  for  their  organizations  in  a  case  of  this  kind, 
consequently  none  of  the  delegates  were  willing  to  commit  them- 
selves to  anything  specific.  But  I  will  state  here  that  every  dele- 
gate that  did  participate  in  the  conferences  was  strictly  opposed 
to  the  tactics  and  the  procedure  of  the  Communist  majority. 
The  whole  story  of  the  minority  conferences  with  its  many 
hours  of  debate  is  too  long  to  go  into  here  in  detail,  and  be- 
sides much  of  it  is  unimportant  to  the  issue.  Therefore  I  only 
intend  to  deal  with  the  salient  points.  The  end  of  the  Congress 
caused  many  of  the  Syndicalist  delegates  to  leave  before  any- 
thing could  be  decided  upon,  and  left  the  remaining  delegates  still 
more  uncertain  about  adopting  a  definite  program. 

Two  Propositions 

Considering  the  whole  proceedings  of  the  Syndicalist  confer- 
ences the  main  points  in  the  discussions  were,  basically,  the  two 
following  positions: 

First:  "To  renounce  entirely  the  R.  T.  U.  I.  as  an  economic 
International  because  it  was  completely  under  the  control  of  the 
Third  International,  and  issue  a  call  for  a  new  International." 

Second:  "That  while  it  was  true  that  the  First  Congress  of 
the  Red  International  was  dominated  by  the  Communists,  it 
was  not  the  proper  procedure  to  withdraw  from  the  R.  T.  U.  I. 

28 


and  endeavor  to  set  up  a  new  International.  It  would  be  better 
to  remain  within  it  and  by  a  well  organized  minority  fight  agamst 
the  control  of  the  political  faction." 

Those  who  supported  the  second  proposition  argued  that  an 
attempt  to  call  a  new  International  would  result  in  creating  a 
great  deal  of  confusion  in  the  revolutionary  labor  situation,  which 
would  manifest  itself  in  great  controversies  that  would  occasion 
irreparable  damages  to  the  movement  to  internationalize  labor. 
Better,  the  supporters  of  the  second  proposition  said,  to  stay 
within  the  R.  T.  U.  I.  with  its  Communist  control  and  fight  them 
there  than  to  enter  upon  a  long  period  of  organizing  another 
International.  The  psychological  influence  of  Moscow  on  the 
world's  workers  was  such  that  an  opposition  now  would  gain  no 
support.  In  short,  while  an  economic  International,  free  from 
political  control,  was  most  desirable,  it  was  not  the  opportune 
time  to  broach  new  such  Internationals. 

Those  who  supported  the  first  proposition  (including  myself) 
said  that  it  was  useless  to  even  try  and  fight  the  prevailing  ma- 
jority of  Communists  by  staying  inside  the  R.  T.  U.  I.  because 
the  Communists  would  always  be  assured  of  control  by  the  simple 
expedient  of  seating  enough  of  their  delegates  to  outnumber  what- 
ever Syndicalists  appeared  on  the  scene.  As  long  as  Moscow  was 
the  place  where  the  congress  convened,  just  so  long  would  they 
dominate  the  Congress.  In  view  of  the  situation  then,  it  would 
be  useless  to  suppose  that  the  majority  in  the  Congress  would 
be  decided  by  a  discussion  on  principles.  Those  who  controlled 
the  machinery  of  the  Congress  would  control  its  deliberations. 
And,  as  for  the  calling  of  another  International  it  is  certain  that 
those  who  intended  to  stay  in  the  R.  T.  U.  I.  and  obey  its  man- 
dates would  be  cutting  their  own  throats  by  dissolving  into  the 
conservative  trade  unions  of  their  respective  countries  (which,  of 
course,  they  wouldn't  do)  and  would  find  themselves  later  on 
ousted  anyway.  So,  obviously,  a  new  International  was  needed 
to  at  least  presei've  the  autonomy  of  the  existing  organizations, 
not  to  mention  the  impossiblity  of  surrendering  the  control  of 
all  the  revolutionary  labor  organizations  into  the  hands  of  a 
political  faction. 

Those  who  supported  the  second  proposition  were  in  most 
part  the  delegates  of  the  larger  Syndicalist  organizations,  like 
Spain,  France  and  Italy.  (The  Italian  delegates  from  the  Sjni- 
dicalist  organization  of  Italy  arrived  in  Moscow  after  the  close 
of  the  Congress.)  Their  view  of  the  Communist  program  was 
that  they  could  not  be  forced  into  liquidation  with  any  conserv- 
ative union  because  of  the  conditions  that  were  peculiar  to  their 
particular  countries.  In  Spain,  the  Syndicalists,  although  driven 
underground  at  present,  were  the  largest  and  most  powerful 
body  in  that  country,  therefore  the  Communist  attitude,  as  for 
instance  towards  the  I.  W.  W.  or  the  smaller  Gei-man  unions, 

29 


was  not  applicable  to  them.  In  France  the  situation  was  still 
different.  There  the  Syndicalists  were  organized  already  as  a 
minority  in  the  C.  G.  T.  and  were  closely  linked  with  the  Com- 
munists in  a  three-cornered  fight  for  control  of  that  body. 
In  Italy,  although  there  is  a  powerful  conservative  body,  yet  the 
Syndicalists  are  nearly  as  strong,  having  700,000  members.  They 
are  too  strong  to  pay  any  attention  to  the  policy  of  joining  the 
conservative  trade  unions.  Indeed,  the  Communists  steer  clear 
of  any  discussion  of  their  labor  policy  as  applied  to  Italy. 

The  situation  of  Italy,  France  and  Spain  therefore  was  such 
that  they  participated  in  the  Syndicalist  conferences  with  only 
one  problem  confronting  them.  This  was  the  question  of  polit- 
ical domination  over  the  R.  T.  U.  I.  But  their  mandates  called 
for  an  International  free  from  political  influence.  And  from  that 
standpoint  they  supported  the  second  proposition. 

The  supporters  of  the  first  proposition  were  the  delegates 
from  smaller  Syndicalist  unions  of  Gennany,  Sweden,  Norway, 
Holland,  America,  etc.;  and,  as  I  have  intimated  before,  their 
position  was  determined  by  more  than  a  mere  consideration  of 
affiliation  with  a  political  party,  but  also  from  a  standpoint  of 
self-preservation. 

The  Communists,  of  course,  in  touch  with  the  situation  as 
explained  above,  in  true  political  style  set  out  to  disrupt  and 
split  the  Syndicalist  faction.  Persuasive  emissaries  from  the 
other  side  worked  hard  on  the  Spanish,  French  and  Italian  dele- 
gates of  the  Syndicalist  unions. 

The  Spanish  Position 

The  position  of  the  Spanish  delegates  was  a  peculiar  one  and 
deserves  a  word  of  explanation.  The  Spanish  Syndicalist  unions 
are  in  a  death  struggle  with  the  reactionary  forces  of  that 
country  and  as  a  consequence  have  been  driven  under  ground. 
It  is  impossible,  too,  for  the  Spanish  delegates  who  were  present 
at  the  congress  of  the  Red  International,  to  return  to  Spain  and 
make  a  report  to  anyone  for  fear  of  arrest.  And  to  this  day 
two  of  them,  Arlandis  and  Nin,  have  not  returned  to  that  country. 
Here  again  the  Communists  have  exploited  the  situation  to  further 
their  political  schemes  in  characteristic  style.  A  mysterious  com- 
mittee somewhere  in  Spain  sends  approval  (or  at  least  it  is  so 
reported  in  Communist  circles)  of  the  R.  T.  U.  I.  and  it  is  her- 
alded as  the  approval  of  the  whole  Spanish  Syndicalist  move- 
ment. Several  Spanish  delegates,  whom  I  have  met  in  Berlin, 
deny  that  this  unknown  committee  has  power  to  act  in  the  way 
it  did  and  have  denounced  it  as  a  frame-up  to  stampede  the  Syii- 
dicalists  of  Europe.  This  certainly  appears  logical  in  view  of  the 
single  fact  that  no  report  from  the  delegates  had  ever  reached 
Spain. 

30 


The  French  wavered  but  little  and  the  Italians  stood  pat. 
Their  evident  intention  was  to  capture  the  Spanish,  French  and 
Italian  delegates  and  then  force  the  rest  of  the  delegates  to  aban- 
don their  position.  But  their  tactless  attemps,  whatever  their  re- 
sults, have  still  left  them  to  undergo  the  microscopic  examination 
of  the  world's  workers.  And  they  have  nothing  to  face  the  ordeal 
with. 

The  result  of  all  the  conferences  was  three  statements,  all 
varying  in  opinion,  but  which,  after  all,  was  all  that  could  be 
expected  at  that  time.  I  herewith  offer  a  resolution  drawn  up 
by  the  German  unions,  and  read  with  great  indignation  by  Lo- 
sovsky,  as  though  it  was  the  height  of  treason  to  indulge  in  such 
views.  This  resolution  by  the  Germans  was  signed  only  by  them- 
selves. It  is  interesting  here  only  because  it  shows  the  attitude 
of  the  German  delegates,  expressed  even  before  they  knew  who 
agreed  with  them  on  the  proposition  and  before  any  conferences 
were  held  among  the  Syndicalists. 

The  Germans'  Statement 

"To  the  representatives  of  independent  revolutionary  organ- 
izations of  every  country  to  the  first  Congress  of  the  Red  Trade 
and  Industrial  tlnion  International  who  have  been  forced  into  a 
minority. 

"Comrades : 

"The  revolutionary  unions  of  the  whole  world  find  them- 
selves at  the  mercy  of  a  dependent,  uncontrollable  minority, 
coming  from  within  unions  affiliated  with  Amsterdam,  both  ideo- 
logically and  organically,  and  who  now  constitute  the  majority 
in  this  Congress. 

"All  decisions  so  far  made  in  this  Congress  have  been  made 
at  the  dictates  of  those  (Communist)  minority  groups.  All  com- 
ing decisions  will  naturally  be  of  the  same  character. 

"Our  organizations  have  thus  already  been  deprived  of  our 
right  within  this  International.  We  are  subject  to  the  bidding 
of  the  Third  International  and  also  subject  to  the  bidding  of 
those  who  with  their  finances  and  numbers  make  up  and 
strengthen  the  influence  of  the  Amsterdam  International. 

"This  subjection  amounts  to  nothing  more  or  less  than  that 
our  organizations  must  give  up  their  independence  to  a  national 
and  international  Mass  Staff.  It  is  even  demanded  that  our  or- 
ganizations disband.  It  is  demanded  that  revolutionary  organ- 
izations dig  their  own  gi'ave. 

"We  find  it  necessary  to  protest  most  energetically  and  in  a 
closed  phalanx  against  such  aims. 

"The  welfare  of  the  international  labor  movement  does  not 
require  an  International  composed  of  nuclei  and  groups,  but  an 
International  of  self-supporting  independent  organizations. 

31 


"In  case  the  revolution  would  not  be  served  by  our  opposi- 
tion being  without  results  here  and  since  another  international 
grouping  °of  independent  unions  outside  of  the  Red  Trade  Union 
International  would  mean  a  further  split  of  the  labor  movement, 
we  do  not  proceed  to  such  steps  before  every  means  have  been 
exhausted  in  making  our  influence  felt  against  the  present  char- 
acter of  the  Red  Trade  Union  International;  and  further  be- 
cause of  the  fact  that  the  Red  International  being  dominated  by 
cell  groups  makes  it  a  farce; 

"Therefore  be  it  resolved, 

"The  unions  which  constitute  the  opposition  in  this  Congress 
form  a  united  group  as  to  purposes  inside  the  Red  Trade  Union 
International  with  the  aim  of  working  together  in  close  solidarity 
in  case  the  leadership  of  the  Red  Trade  Union  International 
should  expel  one  or  the  other  of  the  organizations  holding  these 
views  or  otherwise  exert  its  authority. 

"The  aim  and  purpose  of  our  opposition  shall  be  to  trans- 
fonn  the  fictitious  Red  Trade  Union  International  into  a  real  Inter- 
national and  to  fight  against  all  reformist,  opportunist  and  other 
tendencies  inimical  to  the  movement,  and  to  provide  for  its  prac- 
tical revolutionary  character. 

"For  the  welfare  of  the  labor  movement  of  the  whole  world 
we  invite  all  delegates  to  join  with  us. 

"Freie  Arbeiter  Union  (Felsenkirchen),  Allgemeine  Arbeiter- 
union  Deutschlands,  Deutscher  Shiffahrtsbund. 
"Moscow,  July  14th,  1921." 

There  were  three  other  resolutions  drawn  up  by  the  minority 
conferences,  of  which  I  have  two  for  use  in  this  report.  The 
one  quoted  below  is  the  last  resolution  adopted  and  is  signed 
by  most  of  the  delegates  that  attended  the  conferences.  It  was 
drawn  up  by  a  Frenchman  and  translated  from  that  language. 
It  is  of  a  rather  ambiguous  nature  and  not  so  strong  and  definite 
as  the  preceding  ones,  which  were  emphatic  in  their  stand 
against  the  Third  International. 

This  resolution  reads  as  follows: 

A   CALL   TO   THE   REVOLUTIONARY    SYNDICALISTS    OF 

THE  WORLD 

"Being  gathered  in  Moscow,  after  the  closing  of  the  Red 
Labor  International  Congress,  we — the  representatives  of  the  rev- 
olutionary Syndicalist  minority — agreed  to  from  the  left  wing  of 
the  labor  movement,  organized  on  Syndicalist  principles.  The 
need  of  such  action  has  not  made  itself  felt,  but  has  become 
imperative  for  numerous  reasons,  which  we  shall  try  to  explain 
in  all  frankness. 

"The  world,  shaken  to  its  foundations  by  economic  and  pol- 

32 


itical  factors,  is  now  passing  through  a  most  critical  moment. 
Like  one  doomed  to  death  and  wildly  clutching  at  life,  capitalism 
is  making  desperate  efforts  to  prolong  its  existence.  In  every 
country  of  the  world,  the  proletariat  is  becoming  ever  more  con- 
scious of  its  rights  and  is  beginning  to  realize  its  historic  mission. 
The  end  of  the  19th  century  witnessed  the  miraculous  growth  of 
capitalism,  which — thanks  to  industrial  success — concentrated 
hundreds  of  thousands,  even  millions  of  workers  in  their  class 
organization,  in  labor  unions.  The  old  forms  of  struggle,  the  strug- 
gle of  political  parties,  proved  themselves  insufficient  in  propor- 
tion as  industrial  development  grew  day  by  day;  it  became  ever 
clearer  to  the  laboring  masses  that  they  must  organize  themselves 
into  their  own  labor  bodies — the  labor  unions.  The  beginning  of 
the  20th  century  witnesses  the  growth  of  this  class  movement, 
which  ever  more  clearly  begins  to  realize  its  economic  and  pol- 
itical role.  This  class  movement  grows  beyond  the  limits  of  pure 
and  simple  unionism ;  the  labor  unions  are  transformed  into  fight- 
ing labor  organizations  aiming  at  the  abolition  of  the  wage 
system.  That  becomes  their  economic  problem.  And  the  intro- 
duction of  Communism  their  political  aim. 

"From  this  results  the  antagonism  between  the  old  political 
forms  and  the  working  class  movement  which  is  henceforth 
developing  in  the  labor  organizations,  i.  e.,  the  labor  unions.  The 
conflicts  which  manifested  themselves  in  the  First  International 
along  ideologic  lines,  are  now  transferred  into  the  field  of  facts, 
because  of  the  industrial  development.  Not  wishing  in  the  least 
to  interfere  with  the  liberty  of  any  individuals  to  form  their 
political  gi'oups,  nor  with  the  liberty  of  action  of  any  party,  we 
demand  the  equal  and  just  right  to  organize  ourselves  along 
Syndicalist  lines,  in  our  class  organizations.  We  demand  the 
acknowledgement  of  the  right  of  these  organizations  to  carry 
on  their  struggle  for  their  two-fold  aim:  complete  economic  and 
political  liberation,  by  means  of  the  dictatorship  of  the  prole- 
tariat, during  the  transition  period,  as  is  already  being  practiced 
by  political  parties.  We  left  the  Amsterdam  International  and 
are  fighting  against  it  for  the  very  reason  that  there  we  found 
co-operation  of  the  classes,  which  is  in  itself  a  denial  of  our 
program;  and  also  because  the  political  parties  dominate  there 
and  seek,  as  always,  to  subject  to  themselves  the  working  class. 
These  are  the  causes  which  rallied  us  all  around  the  red  banner 
of  Moscow,  the  s^inbol  of  the  proletarian  revolution,  which  has 
always  been  our  final  aim. 

"But  in  Moscow  we  meet  again  the  tendency  of  political 
parties — and  however  noble  and  exalted  their  aims  in  compari- 
son with  the  Social  Democracy  of  Amsterdam,  yet  it  is  entirely 
incorrect  and  not  to  be  permitted  that  political  tendencies  secure 
to  themselves  exclusive  hegemony  over  the  fighting  labor  organ- 
izations, which  have  grown  from  the  masses  themselves  and  have 
been  created  by  them. 

33 


"Considering  such  pretensions  not  only  theoretically  unjust 
and  practically  unreliable,  but  also  fatal  to  the  best  interests  of 
the  working  class,  which  alone  can  secure  its  emancipation,  we 
found  it  necessary  to  combine  on  the  basis  of  this  principle  of 
revolutionary  Syndicalism,  in  the  new  Red  Labor  International. 
Our  aim  is  to  fight  energetically  along  these  lines  for  the  interests 
of  the  working  class  against  every  attempt  at  domination  by  any 
political  parties,  be  they  even  of  the  best. 

"The  working  class,  organized  syndicalistically,  considers 
itself  thoroughly  capable  to  manage  its  own  affairs;  it  declares 
that  it  knows  its  interests  and  that  it  will  be  able  zealously  to 
guard  its  independence  and  autonomy. 

"Our  work  and  our  tactics  in  the  Red  Labor  International 
must  consist  in  constantly  and  energetically  defending — in  the 
above  indicated  spirit — the  basic  principles  of  revolutionary 
Syndicalism,  and  in  fighting  at  every  step  every  attempt  to  per- 
vert these  principles. 

"With  this  pui-pose  and  aim  in  view,  we  are  hereby  form- 
ing the  Association  of  all  the  revolutionary  Syndicalist  elements 
of  the  world,  represented  by  the  following  groups: 

"Italian  Syndicalist  Union — 700,000  members. 

"National   Confederation  of  Spain — 900,000  members. 

"Confederat.  Revol.   Syndic,   of  France — 400,000  members. 

"I.  W.  W.  of  America — 75,000  members. 

"Central  Labor  Organization  of  Sweden — 35,000  members. 

"General  Labor  Union    (Germany) — 100,000  members. 

"Free  Labor  Union   (Felsenkirchen) — 150,000  members. 

"Free  Association  of  Farm  Laborers — 30,000  members. 

"Association  of  Manual  and  Brain  Workers — 13,500  mem- 
bers. 

"German  Marine  Workers — 6,000  members. 

"Federalist  Association  of  Denmark — 10,000  members. 

"Workers'  Federation  of  Argentina  and  Uruguay — 300,000 
members. 

"Holland  National  Labor  Central — 40,000  members. 

"Syndicalist  Federation  of  Norway — 2,000  members. 

"Canada — 13,000  members. 

"A  Bureau  has  been  elected  with  secretaries  whose  head- 
quarters will  be  in  Paris.  Its  work  will  be  to  serve  as  the  con- 
necting link  between  the  above  named  organizations;  exchange 
information;  take  the  initiative  in  arranging  conferences;  and 
to  organize  energetic  propaganda  in  all  the  countries  involved  on 
the  basis  of  this  manifesto." 

I  shall  also  give  another  of  the  resolutions  which  has  just 
been  received  by  me  and  was  the  first  one  adopted.  It  has 
gone    through    the    process    of    being   translated   twice,   from 

34 


French  to  Swedish  and  then  into  English,  and  consequently  has 
lost  some  of  its  original  tone.  There  is  noticeable,  however,  in 
all  these  resolutions  adopted  by  the  Syndicalists  a  very  tolerant 
attitude  in  a  situation  that  called  for  drastic  action.  I  have 
pointed  out  before  that  opinion  was  somewhat  divided  among 
the  Syndicalists  and  therefore  it  was  but  natural  that  those 
who  composed  the  resolutions,  having  this  in  mind,  were  trying 
to  please  everybody.  Then,  too,  it  must  be  understood  that  very 
few  among  the  signers  of  a  resolution  knew  just  exactly  what 
was  set  down.  A  resolution  written  in  French,  for  instance, 
would  only  be  intelligible  to  the  French  delegates  and  the  others 
would  only  know  in  a  general  way  what  the  resolution  contained. 
Those  in  English  and  German  would  present  the  same  difficulties 
to  those  who  could  not  read  those  languages  and  consequently 
the  ambiguity  of  the  resolutions  offered  here  must  be  considered 
from  that  standpoint.  None  of  them,  however,  but  what  are 
unvarying  in  their  stand  against  political  domination. 

Syndicalist  Manifesto 

The  following  resolution  was  likewise  signed  by  everyone 
present : 

"A  manifesto  to  the  revolutionary  Syndicalists  of  the  world. 

"After  the  congress  of  the  Red  Trade  Union  International, 
we,  revolutionary  Syndicalists,  being  the  minority  in  the  Red 
Trade  Union  International,  have  found  it  necessary  to  meet  in 
a  conference,  in  order  to  gather  on  the  platform  of  revolutionary 
Syndicalism,  the  organized  economic  labor  movement  which  is  a 
part  of — or  in  principle  belongs  to — the  R.  T.  U.  I. 

"Although  a  minority  at  the  constituent  congress  of  the  R. 
T.  U.  I.,  on  account  of  a  representation  which  deviates  from  true 
forms  of  representation  for  a  trade  union  movement,  we  wish 
to  state  that  we  believe,  due  to  the  spirit  that  actuates  us  and 
the  form  of  the  organizations  we  represent,  that  the  real  power 
of  the  workers  and  their  living  expression  are  the  really  live 
economic  organizations,  through  which  alone  the  R.  T.  U.  I.  shall 
become  what  it  ought  to  be:  an  active  and  actual  power. 

"Without  desiring  to  minimize  the  power  and  the  prestige  of 
the  Communist  International  in  regard  to  the  parties  composing 
it,  we  have  the  deepest  conviction  that  the  power  and  prestige 
of  the  R.  T.  U.  I.  will  not  be  increased  but,  on  the  contrary, 
decreased  if  it  stands  under  the  moral  influence  of  the  Third 
International  or  is  subordinated  to  it. 

"Partly  for  this  reason,  partly  for  other  reasons  which 
we  will  openly  explain,  it  is  absolutely  necessary  that  we  create 
a  defense  organization  of  elements  within — and  for  the  moment 
even  outside  of — the  R.  T.  U.  I.,  in  order  to  thus  battle  for  com- 

35 


plete  independence  of  and  complete  autonomy  from  every  political 
organization. 

"Our  consciousness  of  our  historic  role  tells  us,  and  our  con- 
sciousness of  our  capacity  for  achievement  in  Western  Europe 
and  America  confirms  it,  that  only  the  economic  organizations 
of  the  workers  will  survive  capitalism,  that  only  they  can  make 
a  real  social  revolution,  that  only  they  can  definitely  organize 
a  new  society,  based  on  the  producers,  through  the  dictatorship 
of  the  proletariat,  which  has  its  foundation  in  the  trade  unions. 

"And  these  are  the  causes. 

"The  world  is  shaken  by  economic  and  political  convulsions 
and  is  going  through  a  most  serious  crisis.  With  the  wild 
energy  of  a  dying  person,  who  clings  to  life,  capitalism  is  mak- 
ing desperate  efforts  to  prolong  its  existence.  In  all  countries 
the  proletariat  is  rising,  more  and  more  conscious  of  its  rights 
and  the  historic  role  it  has  to  play.  The  19th  century  has  seen 
a  tremendous  development  of  capitalism  which,  in  direct  touch 
with  industrial  development,  has  gathered  hundreds  of  thousands 
and  millions  of  workers  in  the  class  organizations,  the  trade 
unions. 

"The  old  forms  of  the  struggle,  the  party  struggle,  already 
then  proved  to  be  insufficient  and  as  the  class  struggle  became 
more  pointed,  due  to  a  quickened  industrial  development,  the 
necessity  was  emphasized  for  the  working  class  to  form  their 
party,  the  party  of  labor,  in  its  proper  organization,  the  trade 
union  movement.  The  20th  century  saw  this  form  of  the  class 
struggle  aggrandized  and  becoming  conscious  of  its  power,  of 
its  political  and  economic  role,  and  more  and  more  stepping  over 
the  lines  of  craft  organization,  and  thus  the  trade  unions  have 
been  transformed  into  a  militant  organization  for  abolition  of 
wage  slavery  and  for  the  realization  of  Communism.  In  this  fact 
we  see  an  antagonism  between  the  antiquated  form  of  the  pol- 
itics of  old  and  the  labor  movement  which  is  organized  in  class 
organizations,  that  is,  in  trade  unions.  The  opposition  from  the 
First  International,  when  it  only  wished  to  manifest  itself  on 
the  ideological  field,  finds  itself  today  transferred  to  the  field 
of  reality  due  to  economic  development.  Without  desiring  in 
any  manner  to  encroach  upon  the  liberties  of  those  who  have 
grouped  themselves  in  political  parties  or  upon  the  complete 
freedom  of  movement  of  those  parties,  we  claim  for  ourselves 
the  no  less  inviolable  right  to  constitute  ourselves  as  labor  unions 
in  accordance  with  the  outlines  of  economic  life.  In  our  class 
organizations  and  through  them  we  conduct  our  struggle  for  the 
realization  of  our  double  purpose:  complete  economic  and  polit- 
ical emancipation,  by  organizing,  during  the  period  of  transition, 
the  dictatorship  of  the  proletariat,  expressed  through  and  ex- 
ercised by  the  economic  organizations. 

"When  we  left  the  Amsterdam  International  and  combatted 

36 


it,  it  was  not  only  because  we  there  found  expressed  the  prin- 
ciple of  co-operation  between  the  classes,  which  is  a  negation 
of  our  historic  mission  and  our  program,  but  also  on  account 
of  the  dominating  influence  of  the  political  parties,  who  have 
always  been  anxious  to  subdue  the  working  class.  It  is  exactly 
for  this  double  reason  that  we  have  gathered  round  the  red  flag 
of  Moscow,  which  symbolizes  the  proletarian  revolution,  which 
has  always  been  our  final  aim.  But  in  Moscow  we  have  again 
been  able  to  point  to  the  existence  of  the  same  tendencies  from 
the  political  parties  for  a  purpose,  which  may  be  nobler  and 
higher  than  that  which  social-democracy  in  Amsterdam  strives 
for,  but  which,  nevertheless,  in  our  eyes  remains  fundamentally 
wrong  and  unacceptable,  namely  the  conquest  of  an  indisput- 
able hegemony  over  the  fighting  organizations  formed  inside  the 
working  class  itself  and  through  the  working  class. 

"Considering  that  the  practical  results  of  such  pretensions — 
besides  being  impossible  to  theoretically  excuse — would  be  fatal 
to  the  working  class,  which  in  reality  is  alone  capable  of  achiev- 
ing its  emancipation,  we  have  found  it  necessary  to  closely  join 
one  another  on  the  basis  of  revolutionary  Syndicalism,  but  inside 
the  frame  of  the  Red  Trade  Union  International,  in  order  to  fight 
resolutely  on  this  field  for,  and  defend  the  fundamental  interests 
of  the  working  class  against  every  encroachment  from  any  pol- 
itical party,  even  if  that  party  may  be  the  best. 

"The  working  class  organized  on  the  economic  field  feels  of 
age,  proclaims  its  self -sufficiency,  and  guards  jealously  its  inde- 
pendence and  its  autonomy.  But  in  order  to  carry  out  the  grand 
work  which  it  today  feels  called  upon  to  perform,  it  consents 
to  ally  itself  with  every  political  party,  and,  for  the  rest,  with 
every  philosophical  group  which  declares  itself  ready  to  work 
in  a  revolutionary  manner.  Our  work  and  our  tactics  inside  as 
well  as  outside  the  R.  T.  U.  I.  consist  in  defending,  at  all  times 
and  with  energy,  in  the  spirit  expressed  above,  the  fundamental 
principles  of  revolutionary  Syndicalism,  and  step  by  step  combat 
every  deformation  which  it  is  tried  to  subject  it  to.  For  this 
purpose  we  have  to  unite  all  revolutionary  Syndicalist  elements 
inside  the  R.  T.  U.  I.,  represented  by  the  following  organiza- 
tions : 

"I.  W.  W.,  Geo.  Williams;  Italian  Syndicalist  Union,  Duilio 
Mari;  A.  A.  U,  (Germany),  Bartells;  Frei  Land  Arbeiter  and 
German  Sailors'  Union,  Otto  Rieger;  National  Confederacion  of 
Labor,  Spain,  Joaquin  Maurin;  Norway,  Sweden  and  Denmark 
Syndicalist  Unions,  Frans  Severin;  Regional  Federation  of  Labor 
for  Argentina  and  Uruguay,  Tom  Barker;  Revolutionary  S>ii- 
dicalist  Committee (  France),  Michel  Relenque. 

"We  have  charged  the  Syndicalist  Union  of  Italy  with  the 
task  of  securing  the  connections  between  all  these  elements  and 
take  the  initiative  to  communication  and  organization  of  a  con- 

37 


ference  and  an  energetic  propaganda  on  the  basis  of  this  mani- 
festo in  the  respective  countries. 

"Adopted  by  the  Secretariat  of  the  Constituent  Bureau." 

The  discussion  on  the  Syndicalist  conference  can  be  sum- 
marized partly  in  the  following  fashion,  as  the  following  con- 
siderations are  but  the  natural  results  of  that  situation.  The  fact 
that  these  Syndicalist  conferences  were  held  immediately  gives 
birth  to  the  two  questions : 

Which  Theory  Is  Right? 

(1)  What  was  wrong  with  the  R.  T.  U.  I.  Congress  (from 
an  I.  W.  W.  standpoint)  that  the  Syndicalists  should  separate 
themselves  from  the  other  elements  in  the  Congress? 

(2)  If  these  two  groups  are  divided  on  fundamental  differ- 
ences, what  measure  of  right  and  wrong  can  be  applied  (from 
a  revolutionary  standpoint)  to  the  dispute  by  the  workers  through- 
out the  world?  Either  the  Communist  political  theory  or  the 
industrial  theory  is  right.  Between  the  two  there  must  be  a 
selection. 

In  my  opinion  the  industrialist  theory  is  all  the  more  strength- 
ened by  the  mere  fact  that  such  a  great  number  of  Syndicalist 
delegates  have  gone  to  Russia;  have  looked  into  the  very  heart 
of  the  situation  there:  studied  the  Russian  revolution  closely, 
and  yet  they  combat,  in  Moscow  itself,  the  very  theory  that 
dominates  the  Russian  revolution  in  its  present  stage,  viz.,  the 
Communist  political  theory.  If  the  Russian  revolution  is  the 
criterion  on  which  the  Communists  base  their  theory,  then  they 
have  punctured  their  own  arguments  by  not  having  in  Russia 
a  single  fact  which  could  be  used  to  refute  the  industrial  theory. 
Therefore  it  is  worth  noting  that  the  industrialist  theory  is  ar- 
gued for  as  vehemently  in  Moscow  as  in  capitalist  countries, 
which  proves  that  no  revolutionary  economic  organization  can 
ever  accept  domination  by  a  political  party  regardless  of  what 
revolutionary  disguise  it  is  parading  under.  I  have  the  happy 
memory  of  being  told  by  scores  and  scores  of  workers  during  may 
stay  in  Russia,  many  of  them  former  members  of  the  I.  W.  W.  in 
England  and  America,  and  too,  practically  all  of  them  in  Russia 
since  the  first  days  of  the  revolution  that  the  I.  W.  W.  posi- 
tion has  proven  itself  correct  to  them  by  their  experiences  in 
Russia. 

I  have  devoted  more  attention  to  the  minority  conferences 
than  might  seem  necessary,  but  I  have  gone  into  this  phase 
not  because  there  was  anything  of  importance  attached  to  the 
results,  but  only  to  give  the  members  of  the  I.  W.  W.  an  idea 
of  the  tendencies  that  prevailed  in  the  Congress,  and  having 
this  in  their  minds  they  can  more  easily  interpret  the  final  re- 

88 


suits  of  the  Red  International  Congress,  And  also,  to  show  that 
the  opposition  to  the  domination  of  the  political  sect  was  em- 
phatic and  not  confined  to  myself.  Every  revolutionaiy  Syndic- 
calist  organization  demanded  an  independent  economic  Inter- 
national. They  didn't  get  it.  That  much  I  think  has  been  proven 
already,  even  if  nothing  more  were  said.  I  have  pointed  out  that 
the  split  between  the  two  factions  was  a  decided  one.  The  mi- 
nority conferences,  therefore,  were  not  without  their  good  func- 
tion of  indicating  the  inerasable  line  of  demarcation  that  separ- 
ated the  two  groups.  Besides,  I  think  that  it  has  laid  the  founda- 
tion for  an  honest-to-goodness  International  because  we  now 
know  where  everybody  else  stands  in  the  revolutionary  labor 
movement  regarding  political  parties. 

^'Resolutions  and  Decisions" 

I  now  pass  on  to  a  discussion  of  "Resolutions  and  Decisions," 
adopted  at  the  First  Congress  of  the  Red  Inteniational.  They 
are  remarably  few  for  such  an  important  enteiprise  as  an  Inter- 
national of  Revolutionary  Unions.  Indeed,  it  seems  to  me,  that 
the  whole  set  of  resolutions  are  nothing  but  silly  tirades  against 
the  leaders  of  Amsterdam  and  the  leaders  of  the  various  con- 
servative trade  unions  in  the  different  countries.  But  if  it  re- 
veals nothing  of  importance  for  the  foundation  of  an  economic 
International  it  at  least  gives  a  good  conception  of  the  motives 
of  the  authors  of  each  resolution.  Even  a  supei'ficial  study  of 
these  "Resolutions  and  Decisions"  will  show  that  but  one  thought 
dominates  every  printed  sentence:  Poiver.  "Oust  the  Amster- 
dam  leaders,"  "Throw  out  the  Gomperses,  the  Jouhauxs,  the 
Thomases,  capture  their  unions  and  bring  them  to  Moscow.  Turn 
them  over  to  us,  ive  ivill  then  lead  yoii  to  victory,"  as  though 
the  elimination  of  some  particular  leaders  were  the  only  prob- 
lem confronting  the  workers.  It  is  the  old  moss-eaten  philosophy 
of  leadership  again. 

To  get  a  good  idea  of  the  psychology  that  dominated  the 
Communists  who  control  the  Red  International,  the  Manifesto 
of  the  Congress  to  the  workers  of  the  world  is  as  good  a  meas- 
uring stick  as  any.  This  manifesto,  coming  as  it  did  from  a 
Congress  of  International  revolutionary  labor  unions,  would  cer- 
tainly be  expected  by  everybody  to  contain  an  important  message 
to  the  world's  workers.  But  what  does  it  say?  It  starts  out 
about  "the  criminal  war"  and  touches  on  every  wrong  under  the 
sun  that  is  suffered  by  the  working  class,  preparing  the  reader 
seemingly  for  a  solution  to  the  whole  problem.  It  then  asks  in 
the  middle  of  the  article : 

"What  is  to  be  done?" 

Apparently  all  the  author  could  think  of  or  at  least  all  I 
could  find  is  embodied  in  the  following  extracts: 

39 


"What  are  doing  the  leaders  of  Amsterdam?"  .  .  "Let  the 
indignant  cry  of  the  proletariat  call  out  one  single  watchword: 
Do2vn  tuith  the  yellow  Aimsterdam  International!"  ,  .  .  "Get  rid 
of  the  yellotv  treacherous  leaders  selling  the  cause  of  the  working 
class."  "A  new  epoch  of  glorious  struggles  has  begun,  when 
the  proletariat  becomes  worthy  of  better  leaders  than  the  scabs 
of  Amsterdam."  (Get  this!) — "The  new  leaders  will  know  how 
to  defend  the  proletarian  trenches  and  will  take  the  offensive." 

Not  a  word  here  that  indicates  anything  but  a  change  of 
leaders.  Of  course,  the  question  of  throwing  out  the  yellow 
leaders  of  the  "yellow  unions"  suggests  new  leaders,  and  who 
would  even  imagine  that  any  Communist  would  be  so  immodest 
as  to  offer  himself  to  lead  the  workers  to  economic  freedom? 
I  ask  this  question  for  the  benefit  of  those  who  perhaps  have 
never  appreciated  the  leadership  qualities  that  exist  in,  and  are 
peculiar  to  Moscow.  Yes,  Moscow  has  leaders  for  any  kind  of 
unions,  from  those  unions  that  don't  exist,  to  those  about  to  be 
formed.  In  short,  a  full  equipment  for  the  business  of  leader- 
ship exists  in  Moscow,  and  only  waits  for  the  necessary  organiza- 
tions to  which  these  self-proved  leaders  can  attach  themselves. 
And,  naturally,  in  all  other  Theses,  Resolutions  or  Decisions,  this 
dominating  idea  "leadership"  is  the  basis  of  all  discussion.  It 
is  repeated  over  and  over  again  in  every  article,  until  reading 
such  "theses"  becomes  a  monotonous  study  of  repeated  phrases. 
Every  member  of  the  I.  W.  W.  should  get  a  copy  of  these  "Res- 
olutions and  Decisions"  if  possible.  It  is  a  study  in  the  dilapi- 
dated dogma  of  pure  leadership,  but  splashed  over  with  a  brand 
new  coat  of  red  paint. 

There  were  only  three  matters  adopted  in  the  Congress 
that  are  worthy  of  any  consideration  here:  "The  Question  of 
Tactics,"  "Resolution  on  the  Question  of  Relations  between  the 
Red  Labor  Union  International  and  the  Communist  Internation- 
al," and  the  "Constitution."  There  were  other  things  considered, 
but  dealing  as  they  did  with  superannuated  topics  are  impor- 
tant to  nobody  but  the  author,  who  perhaps,  got  a  kick  out  of 
exercising  his  peculiar  talent  for  ambiguity.  It  is  not  my  inten- 
tion to  get  comical  over  a  serious  subject,  yet  one  must  counter- 
act such  bloodthirsty  tirades  with  a  relaxed  mind,  otherwise  he 
will  take  the  question  of  conservative  labor  leaders  so  seriously 
as  to  be  drawn  into  an  argument  as  to  whether  they  should  be 
dynamited  or  run  into  a  machine  gun  trap. 

Our  sole  consideration  here  is  the  machinery  that  was  set 
up  to  create  and  operate  the  Red  International  (from  an  I.  W.  W. 
standpoint) . 


40 


Relations  with  Communist  International 

The  "Resolutions  on  the  Relations  with  the  Communist  In- 
ternational" are  somewhat  misleading  because  they  say  nothing 
about  the  actual  relations  of  these  two  bodies.  But  in  the  "Con- 
stitution of  the  Red  International  of  Labor  Unions"  this  point 
is  settled.  This  being  the  case,  I  will  only  reprint  them  here  with 
the  request  to  the  membership  to  carefully  study  the  last  para- 
graph about  "Contact  between  Red  Labor  Unions  and  the  Com- 
munists Parties." 

"RESOLUTION  on  the  Question  of  Relations  between  the  Red 
Labor    Union   International   and    the   Communist   International. 
"(On  the  report  of  Comrades  Rosmer  and  Tom  Mann.) 

"Whereas,  the  struggle  between  labor  and  capital  in  all 
capitalist  countries  has  assumed,  as  a  result  of  the  world  war 
and  crisis,  an  exceptionally  acute,  implacable  and  decisive  char- 
acter, 

"Whereas,  in  the  process  of  this  everyday  struggle  the  labor- 
ing masses  realize  ever  more  clearly  the  necessity  of  eliminat- 
ing the  bourgeoisie  from  administration  of  industry  and  conse- 
quently from  political  power, 

"Whereas,  the  above  result  can  be  obtained  solely  by  estab- 
lishing of  the  dictatorship  of  the  proletariat  and  a  Communist 
system, 

"Whereas,  in  the  struggle  to  preserve  the  bourgeois  dicta- 
torship, all  the  capitalist  ruling  classes  have  already  succeeded 
in  consolidating  and  concentrating  to  a  high  degree  their  national 
and  international  organizations,  political  as  well  as  economic, 
in  a  solid  front  of  all  the  bourgeois  forces,  both  defensive  and 
offensive,  against  the  onrush  of  the  proletariat, 

"Whereas,  the  logic  of  the  modern  class  struggle  demands 
the  greater  consolidation  of  the  proletarian  forces  and  the  rev- 
olutionary struggle  and  consequently  means  that  there  must  be 
the  closest  contact  and  organic  connection  between  the  different 
forms  of  the  revolutionary  labor  movement  and  primarily  be- 
tween the  Third  Communist  International  and  the  Red  Labor 
Union  International,  it  is  also  desirable  that  every  effort  should 
be  made,  in  the  national  field,  towards  the  establishment  of  sim- 
ilar relations  between  the  Communist  parties  and  the  Red  Inter- 
national of  Labor  Unions; 

"Therefore  the  Congress  resolves: 

"1.  To  take  all  steps  for  uniting  together  in  the  most  ener- 
getic manner  all  the  labor  unions  in  one  united  fighting  organ- 
ization with  one  direct  international  center — the  Red  Interna- 
tional of  Labor  Unions. 

41 


"2.  To  establish  the  closest  possible  contact  with  the  Third 
Communist  International  as  the  vanguard  of  the  revolutionary 
labor  movement  in  all  the  parts  of  the  world  on  the  basis  of 
joint  representation  at  both  Executive  Committees,  joint  confer- 
ences, etc. 

3.  That  the  above  connection  should  have  an  organic  and 
business  character  and  be  expressed  in  the  joint  preparation 
of  pre-revolutionary  action  and  in  the  concerted  manner  in  which 
it  could  be  carried  out  on  a  national  and  international  scale. 

"4.  That  it  is  imperative  for  every  country  to  strive  towards 
uniting  the  revolutionary  labor  union  organizations  and  the  es- 
tablishment of  the  closests  contact  between  the  red  labor  unions 
and  the  Communist  parties  for  the  carrying  out  of  the  decisons 
of  both  congresses." 

There  was  a  resolution  on  the  Italian  question,  the  discus- 
sion of  which  took  up  two  days'  sessions.  The  gist  of  the  affair 
is  that  the  leaders  of  the  General  Confederation  of  Labor  in  Italy 
(this  is  the  conservative  union  that  belongs  to  Amsterdam  and 
not  to  be  confused  with  the  Syndicalist  union)  had  at  one  time 
promised  to  join  the  Red  International  but  have  still  remained 
on  the  outside.  The  resolution  on  the  so-called  Italian  question 
was  therefore  a  condemnation  of  the  leaders  in  the  Italian  con- 
servative unions  for  their  seeming  duplicity.  According  to  the 
time  taken  this  should  rank  as  the  most  important  question.  It 
took  just  twice  as  long  to  settle  this  quarrel  as  it  did  the  other 
resolutions. 

Resolutions  on  Organizations 

The  "Resolutions  on  Organizations"  were  the  issue  on  which 
the  opposing  factions  in  the  Congress  indulged  in  the  most 
heated  debate.  This  resolution  comprises  the  "boring  from  within" 
theoiy,  a  policy  by  which  the  Communists  have  such  fond  hopes 
of  capturing  the  conservative  labor  unions.  The  whole  philosophy 
of  "boring  from  within"  has  sprung  from  one  desire:  leadership 
and  power. 

Take  away  the  idea  of  controlling  all  labor  unions  from  a 
center  in  Moscow  and  the  whole  theory  falls  as  flat  as  a  pan^- 
cake.  And,  too,  it  is  from  this  philosophy  of  leadership  that  the 
extreme  antagonism  towards  the  Syndicalists  and  the  I.  W.  W. 
springs.  Losovsky  indicates  this  clearly  in  his  theses  on  "Tac- 
tics" when  he  says:  "On  the  other  hand  toe  find  in  Syndicalism 
the  principle  of  independence  and  neidTulity  towards  all  political 
parties,  including  the  political  party  of  the  proletariat." 

This,  I  think,  explains  everything  about  "boring  from  with- 
in." The  theses  on  "Tactics"  give  no  other  impression  than  that 
the  main  function  of  "boring  from  within"  is  to  oust  the  old  lead- 
ers. Says  Losovsky  in  paragraph  24,  "Theses  on  Tactics,"  speak- 
ing of  English  labor  unions : 

42 


"The  problem  under  such  conditions  is  not  to  wrest  individ- 
ual prominent  members  from  the  mass  of  workers,  from  the 
unions  in  order  to  create  certain  extra-union  organizations,  but 
to  see  to  it  that  all  the  most  conscious,  revolutionary  active  ele- 
ments should  work  organically  in  the  very  thick  of  the  laboring 
masses;  in  the  factories  and  shops,  in  the  lowest  nuclei  of  the 
unions,  striving  to  secure  responsible,  leading  positions  in  the 
labor  union  movement  from  top  to  bottom" 

It  is  a  waste  of  time  and  space  to  attempt  a  detailed  exami- 
nation of  the  boring  from  within  theory,  its  promulgators  have 
advanced  it  evidently  with  their  Russian  viewpoint,  and  besides, 
know  little  about  the  conditions  in  America,  or  any  other  country 
for  that  matter.  But,  measuring  it  from  the  standpoint  of  cap- 
turing the  leadership  in  the  conservative  unions,  its  reasons  for 
existence  are  easily  seen.  I  have  searched  everything  published 
on  this  subject  by  the  Communist  tacticians  and  I  have  yet  to 
find  a  comprehensive  plan  that  would  define  a  complete  program 
for  this  theory.  The  following  from  the  theses  on  "Organiza- 
tion" by  Losovsky,  comes  the  nearest  to  saying  something  on  this 
subject  that  exists  as  far  as  I  know: 

"IV.    The  Conquest  of  the  Old  Trade  Unions 

"12.  The  counter-revolutionary  part  played,  at  the  present 
time,  by  the  trade  union  bureaucracy;  the  strangling  of  the 
revolutionary  movement  of  the  working  class  awakened  in  cer- 
tain sections  of  the  revolutionary  proletariat  in  all  countries  the 
thought  of  leaving  the  unions  and  the  creation  of  new,  purely 
revolutionary  unions.  This  is  the  origin  of  the  watchwords  'de- 
stroy the  unions'  and  'out  of  the  unions',  which  met  with  rather 
favorable  reception  among  that  section  of  the  revolutionary  ele- 
ments who  were  rather  despairing  and  in  a  pessimistic  mood, 
having  lost  confidence  in  the  masses.  This  policy  of  breaking 
off  from  the  unions  by  the  revolutionary  elements,  thanks  to 
which  the  great  masses  are  abandoned  to  the  influence  of  the 
working  class,  plays  into  the  hands  of  the  counter-revolutionaiy 
bureaucracy  and  must  be  resolutely  and  categorically  rejected. 
Not  to  destroy,  but  to  conquer  the  unions,  i.  e.,  the  great  mass 
of  workers  who  are  still  in  the  old  trade  unions,  this  should 
be  our  rallying  point  in  the  development  of  the  revolutionary 
struggle. 

"13.  Meeting  half  way  the  slogan  'out  of  the  unions,*  the 
trade  union  bureaucracy  of  all  countries  began  to  expel  the 
leading  elements  of  the  revolutionary  trade  union  movement. 
This  rendered  still  more  acute  the  pessimistic  mood  and  strength- 
ened the  slogan  "out  of  the  unions.'  But  it  would  be  a  great 
error  on  the  part  of  the  supporters  of  the  Red  International 
if,  being  drawn  into  this  provocation,  they  were  to  abandon  the 

43 


trade  union  movement  and  confine  themselves  in  minute  revolu- 
tionary unions. 

"The  workers  expelled  from  the  union  should  not  be  dis- 
integrated. They  must  remain  organized  on  the  same  plane  as 
they  were  before  the  exclusion  acting  always  as  a  definite,  legal 
part  of  the  union  which  had  expelled  them.  By  no  means  should 
they  play  into  the  hands  of  the  trade  union  bureaucracy  and 
facilitate  it  in  the  struggle  against  the  ever-increasing  revolution- 
ary spirit  of  the  masses. 

"14.  Our  policy  with  respect  to  old  trade  unions  should  take 
into  consideration  that,  at  the  actual  moment,  they  embrace  many 
millions  of  workers.  The  task  of  the  revolutionary  elements  in 
the  trade  unions  does  not  consist  in  wresting  from  the  unions 
the  best  and  class  conscious  workers  in  order  to  create  small 
organizations.  Their  task  should  be  to  revolutionize  the  unions, 
to  transform  them  into  a  weapon  of  social  revolution  by  means 
of  the  everyday  struggle  in  favor  of  all  the  revolutionary  demands 
put  forward  by  the  workers  within  the  old  trade  unions.  Every 
kind  of  organizing  work  should  develop  along  the  lines  of  fight- 
ing the  treachery  and  slackness  of  the  trade  union  bureaucracy 
in  the  struggle  for  the  every-day  interests  of  the  workers.  To 
conquer  the  unions  means  to  conquer  the  masses,  and  these  can 
only  be  conquered  by  a  systematically  obstinate  work,  setting 
against  the  policy  of  class  collaboration  that  of  our  steady  rev- 
olutionary line  of  action.  The  slogan  'out  of  the  unions'  prevents 
us  from  conquering  the  masses  to  our  cause  and  retards  the  ad- 
vance of  the  social  revolution. 

"15.  It  would  be  similarly  erroneous  to  consider  the  organ- 
ization of  trade  unions  as  an  aim  in  itself.  They  are  but  only 
the  means  to  an  end.  By  rejecting  the  motto  "out  of  the  unions' 
we  must  resolutely  declare  ourselves  against  the  fetish  of  organ- 
ization and  the  watchword  'Unity  at  any  cost  and  under  all  cir- 
cumstances.' The  conquest  of  the  unions  does  not  imply  the 
seizure  of  the  union  cash  book  or  of  its  property,  but  the  con- 
quest of  its  members.  The  difference  is  easily  forgotten  and  the 
union  is  often  confused  with  its  office,  its  cash  and  its  officials. 
This  'trade  union  machinery*  standpoint  should  encounter  a  res- 
olute opposition  on  the  part  of  the  revolutionary  class  conscious 
unions.  The  revolutionary  trade  unions  are  against  the  split. 
They  stand  for  unity,  but  they  do  not  fear  the  split,  this  should 
be  brought  home  to  everyone  of  us." 

The  most  striking  feature  about  the  above  is  the  vagueness 
with  which  it  treats  this  "pet  subject,"  and  being  vague,  it  is 
but  natural  that  inconsistency  would  abound.  It  is  a  master- 
piece of  childish  dribble.  It  tells  the  workers  to  leave  the  "yel- 
low leaders"  of  Amsterdam  but  stay  with  the  "yellow  leaders" 
of  the  various  countries,  seemingly  unaware  of  the  fact  that  sup- 

44 


port  of  the  national  leaders  certainly  does  not  weaken  Amster- 
dam. 

I  leave  it  to  the  members  of  the  I.  W.  W.  to  solve  this 
riddle  and  arrive  at  an  understanding  as  to  where  this  "boring" 
is  going  to  start  and  where  it  will  end.  It  is  like  boring  a  tunnel 
without  knowing  where  the  tunnel  will  end. 

Having,  I  think,  established  that  the  Red  International  was 
completely  dominated  by  the  Third  International,  it  is  to  the 
point  to  call  attention  here  to  pragraph  45  of  the  Theses  on 
Organization,  under  the  section  headed:  "Conditions  of  Affilia- 
tion to  the  Red  International."  It  is  the  "joker,"  clumsily  dis- 
guised that  has  for  its  purpose  the  delivery  of  the  world's  labor 
movement  into  the  hands  of  the  Executive  Committee  of  the  Com- 
munist International  via  the  international  disciplinarians  of  the 
Red  International. 

45.  "An  international  organization  is  only  then  properly  es- 
tablished when  its  decisions  are  carried  out  by  corresponding 
organizations  in  all  countries.  The  experience  of  international 
organizations  before,  and  especially  during  the  war,  shows  that 
many  organizations  do  not  consider  the  decisions  adopted  by  in- 
ternational congresses  as  binding  on  the  national  organizations. 
But  the  Red  International  cannot  endorse  their  standpoint  and 
therefore  establishes  the  necessity  of  international  proletarian 
discipline,  i.  e.,  that  separate  national  organizations  must  abide 
by  the  decisions  of  the  International  Congresses  and  confer- 
ences." 

One  could  go  on  without  end  in  criticizing  the  "Resolutions 
and  Decisions"  for  their  lack  of  an  intelligible  plan  for  an  Inter- 
national organization.  However,  it  is  useless  to  dissect  every- 
thing, the  ambiguity  of  the  whole  program  is  its  chief  strength, 
because  it  has  a  tendency  to  confuse  the  great  majority  of  the 
workers,  maintaining  an  ideological  attitude  towards  the  Russian 
revolution,  confuse  this  wonderful  achievement  with  a  political 
party. 

I  will  only  deal  with  one  thing  more,  "The  Constitution  of  the 
Red  International  of  the  Labor  Unions."  To  save  space  I  will 
omit  the  introduction  to  this  resolution,  and  commence  with 
"Aims  and  Purpose." 

"II.    Aims  and  Purpose 

"The  Red  International  of  Labor  has  for  its  aims: 

"(1)  To  organize  the  large  working  mass  in  the  whole  world 
for  the  overthrow  of  capitalism,  the  emancipation  of  the  toilers 
from  oppression  and  exploitation  and  the  establishment  of  the 
socialist  commonwealth. 

45 


"(2)  To  carry  on  a  wide  agitation  and  propaganda  of  the 
principles  of  revolutionary  class  struggle,  social  revolution,  the 
dictatorship  of  the  proletariat  and  revolutionary  mass  action  for 
the  purpose  of  overthrowing  the  capitalist  system  and  the  bour- 
geois state. 

"(3)  To  fight  against  the  corruptive  ulcer  gnawing  at  the 
vitals  of  the  world  labor  union  movement,  of  compromising  with 
the  bourgeoisie,  against  the  ideas  of  class  co-operation  and  social 
peace  and  the  absurd  hopes  for  a  peaceable  transition  from  cap- 
italism to  socialism. 

"(4)  To  unite  the  revolutionary  class  elements  of  the  world 
labor  union  movement  and  carry  on  decisive  battle  against  the 
International  Bureau  of  Labor  attached  to  the  League  of  Nations 
and  against  the  Amsterdam  International  Federation  of  Trade 
Unions,  which  by  their  program  and  tactics  are  but  the  bulwark 
of  the  world  bourgeoisie. 

"(5)  To  co-ordinate  and  regulate  the  struggle  of  the  working 
class  in  all  countries  and  organize  international  demonstrations 
each  time,  when  the  situation  demands  them. 

"(6)  To  take  the  initiative  of  international  campaigns  about 
prominent  events  of  class  struggle,  to  open  subscription  lists  for 
the  benefit  of  strikers  in  great  social  conflicts,  etc." 

I  don't  think  comment  is  necessary  on  the  above  other  than 
to  ask,  what  particular  set  of  aims  in  any  way  clarifies  the 
subject  about  which  the  matter  is  printed?  To  say  that  the 
"Aims  and  Puii)oses"  are  "to  organize  the  working  class  in  the 
whole  world  .  .  the  emancipation  of  the  toilers  from  oppression 
and  exploitation"  doesn't  mean  anything,  because  the  yellow  So- 
cialists and  Amsterdamers  also  recommend  this  same  vague  proc- 
ess Organize?  Sure!  But  how?  And  by  what  logical  process 
are  the  workers  to  get  control  of  the  industries?  We  don't  want 
to  leave  anything  to  the  imagination  on  this  point.  The  fact 
of  the  matter  is  that  this  clause  is  another  instance  of  studied 
and  methodical  nonsense.  But  if  the  author  had  written  what 
was  in  his  heart,  too  much  would  have  been  uncovered. 


Conditions  of  Membership 

Under  the  rules  of  "Membership"  the  doors  and  w'indows 
of  the  next  Red  International  Congress  are  thrown  wide  open 
for  another  avalanche  of  Communist  delegates  representing  their 
millions  of  phantom  workers.  But,  of  course,  it  could  not  be  that 
the  framer  of  this  clause  had  this  very  thing  in  mind! 


46 


''Membership 

"Any  revolutionary  economic  class  organization  is  eligible 
to  membership  in  the  Red  International  of  Labor  Unions  if  it 
accepts  the  following  conditions: 

"(1)  Endorsement  of  the  principles  of  revolutionary  class 
struggle. 

"(2)  Application  of  these  principles  in  its  daily  struggle  with 
capitalism  and  the  bourgeois  state. 

"(3)  Recognition  of  the  necessity  of  the  overthrow  of  capit- 
alism through  the  social  revolution  and  the  establishment  of  the 
dictatorship  of  the  proletariat  for  the  transition  period. 

"(4)  Recognition  and  application  of  the  decisions  of  the  Con- 
stituent Congress  of  the  Red  International  of  Labor  Unions. 

"(6)  The  rupture  with  the  Amsterdam  yellow  International. 

"(7)  United  action  with  all  the  revolutionary  organizations 
and  the  Communist  party  of  the  country  in  all  defensive  and 
offensive  activities  against  the  bourgeoisie." 

Article  IV,  ''International  Congress" 

This  article  is  the  "joker,"  and  two  interesting  paragraphs 
that  are  particularly  valuable  to  those  Communists  who,  to  de- 
termine the  amount  of  the  workers  they  will  represent,  need 
only  a  lead  pencil  that  will  write  out  the  figures.  The  whole 
Syndicalist  movement  has  perhaps  3,000,000  members,  which 
would  net  them  about  18  votes,  a  liberal  estimate  using  article 
IV  as  a  basis.  The  German  Communist  minority  could  match  this 
alone,  not  to  mention  the  potentialities  of  the  American,  French, 
English,  Italian  and  a  score  of  other  countries.  And,  too,  the 
usual  "joker"  is  found  in  the  next  paragraph  to  that  which  fixes 
representation.  It  is  morally  certain  that  the  conservative  labor 
unions  in  the  various  countries  will  never  join  the  Red  Inter- 
national, and  hence  arises  the  necessity  for  a  Communist  minor- 
ity.   Here  are  the  two  paragraphs  commented  on  above. 

"Every  national  organization  of  trade  or  industrial  unions 
less  than  10,000  members,  receives  one  consultative  voice  on  the 
congress;  national  organizations  having  from  10,000  to  25,000 
members  send  one  delegate  with  a  deciding  vote ;  from  25,000 
to  100,000  members — two  delegates  with  deciding  votes;  from 
100,000  to  250,000 — four  delegates  with  deciding  votes;  from 
250,000  to  500,000— six  delegates,  and  for  each  additional  500,000 
members  one  delegate  with  a  deciding  vote  is  added.  Interna- 
tional revolutionary  class  organizations  by  trades  or  industries 
have  the  right  to  two  deciding  votes  each. 

47 


Organized  minorities  in  countries  have  the  same  represent- 
ation,  but  all  organizations  of  a  given  country  affiliated  with  the 
Red  International  of  Labor  Unions  make  up  a  single  delegation, 
inside  of  which  the  votes  are  divided  proportionally  to  the  mem- 
bership of  the  respective  organizations.  Organized  minorities 
and  fractions  have  representation  on  the  congress  only  in  the 
case,  when  the  general  labor  union"  (by  this  is  meant  the  con- 
servative unions)  "organization  of  that  country  is  not  affiliated 
with  the  Red  International  of  Labor  Unions." 

The  Central  Council 

By  Article  V,  "Organs  of  the  Red  International  of  Labor 
Unions"  on  the  Central  Council  the  Russians  are  forever  pro- 
vided with  four  delegates,  other  countries  two,  and  some  one. 
I  say  forever  because  this  particular  Red  International  will  never 
meet  outside  of  Russia.  However,  this  doesn't  matter,  as  the 
Central  Council  as  such  will  in  the  future  carry  on  a  paper  ex- 
istence. The  real  body  is  the  Executive  Bureau,  which  is  elected 
by  the  Central  Council,  and  the  Central  Council  having  made 
these  provisions  disbands  until  the  next  Congress.  This  Central 
Council,  always  assured  of  a  Communist  majority,  will,  of  course, 
always  elect  safe  and  sane  comrades  to  the  Executive  Bureau, 
etc.,  etc.,  and  our  attention  attracted  thus  to  this  exalted  center, 
it  takes  no  mental  effort  to  see  that  the  powers  controlling  this 
particular  body  will  be  no  other  than  the  General  Headquarters 
of  the  Third  International.    I  quote  this  article : 

"V.    Organs  of  the  Red  International  of  Labor  Unions 

"The  Red  International  of  Labor  Unions  has  two  organs: 
the  Central  Council  and  the  Executive  Bureau. 

"Central  Council.  The  Central  Council  is  composed  as  fol- 
lows: England,  United  States,  GeiTnany,  Italy,  Spain,  Czecho- 
slovakia, Poland  and  France  have  two  representatives  each; 
Russia  has  four;  all  other  countries  having  more  than  25,000 
have  one  representative  with  a  deciding  vote;  countries  having 
less  than  25,000  have  one  representative  with  a  consulting  voice, 
international  organizations  by  trades  or  industries  have  one  rep- 
resentative with  a  consulting  voice. 

"The  Central  Council  directs  all  the  work  of  the  Red  Inter- 
national of  Labor  Unions  from  congress  to  congress;  takes  all 
decisions  necessitated  by  the  circumstances;  represents  the  Red 
International  of  Labor  Unions  before  the  whole  world ;  acts  in  its 
name,,  gathers  in  its  hands  all  the  materials  and  documents  re- 
lated to  the  international  labor  movement;  manages  all  funds  in- 
cluding the  International  Fund  of  Militant  Solidarity;  publishes 
papers  and  magazines  in  different  languages;  in  short,  is  the 

48 


organ  invested  with  the  power  to  direct  the  work  between  the 
world  congresses. 

"The  Central  Council  meets  at  least  twice  a  year,  dealing 
mostly  with  the  clearing  of  questions  of  principles,  and  leaving 
all  current  work  to  the  Executive  Bureau." 

The  present  composition  of  the  Executive  Bureau  and  the 
methods  used  to  place  Andreytchine  there  are  conclusive  proof 
as  to  what  element  will  always  make  up  this  body.  And  to- 
gether with  this  is  the  fact  that  the  Red  International  will  be 
personified  in  these  seven  men.  They  will  be  the  Red  Inter- 
national. And  with  the  plan  of  central  control  of  all  organiza- 
tions that  belong  to  the  R.  T.  U.  I.,  which  is  so  plainly  insisted 
upon  in  the  adopted  "Resolutions  and  Decisions,"  it  is  plain  to 
see  that  this  particular  group  will  sit  securely  alone  and  run  the 
Red  International  to  suit  themselves.  And  it  can  be  depended  on 
that  this  bureau  will  have  the  machinery  of  the  next  congress 
well  oiled  for  future  political  travels. 


The  Executive  Bureau 

The  Executive  Bureau  consists  of  seven  members,  elected 
by  the  Central  Council,  including  two  members  of  the  country 
where  the  Headquarters  of  the  Red  International  of  Labor 
Unions  is  located. 

"The  Executive  Bureau  directs  all  the  current  affairs  of 
the  Red  International  of  Labor  Unions.  It  regulates  the  work 
of  the  departments  and  sections;  publishes  the  official  organs 
of  the  Red  International  of  Labor  Unions;  represents  the  Red 
International  of  Labor  Unions  and  the  Central  Council  wherever 
and  whenever  it  is  necessary;  and  prepares  all  the  questions 
for  the  sessions  of  the  Central  Council.  The  Executive  Bureau 
meets  at  least  once  a  week." 


Provision  for  Funds 

The  provision  for  funds  made  in  the  Constitution  I  am 
going  to  leave  to  the  conclusions  of  any  mathematical  genius 
that  chances  to  read  this  report.  The  only  thing  I  can  make 
out  of  it  is  that  the  labor  bodies  who  have  a  membership  will 
supply  the  treasury.  The  Communist  minorities  will  be  dead- 
heads, but,  having  all  the  votes,  will  spend  all  the  money  to 
wreck  the  very  organizations  that  supply  it.  A  bright  future 
for  an  International  of  Labor  Unions  to  face! 


49 


"Article  VII.    Funds 

"The  funds  of  the  Red  International  are  composed  of  regular 
dues  paid  by  the  national  organizations  affiliated  with  it  and 
of  special  contributions.  The  quota  of  the  pajnuents  is  estabUshed 
as  follows:  at  least  1  per  cent  of  the  total  income  of  the  organ- 
izations which  receive  into  their  central  treasury  50  per  cent  or 
more  of  the  membership  dues:  at  least  2  per  cent  from  those 
organizations  receiving  into  their  central  treasury  25  to  50  per 
cent  of  the  membership  dues;  at  least  3  per  cent  from  those 
organizations  receiving  from  10  to  25  per  cent  of  the  member- 
ship dues  and  at  least  5  per  cent  from  those  organizations  re- 
ceiving less  than  10  per  cent  of  the  membership  dues.  Until  the 
creation  of  the  necessary  fund  all  financial  means  will  be  fur- 
nished by  the  general  labor  organization  of  the  country  where  the 
headquarters  of  the  Red  International  of  Labor  Unions  is  lo- 
cated." 

I  will  finish  with  the  subject  of  "Relations  with  the  Com- 
munist International/'  by  saying  that  this  is  a  very  clumsy  decoy, 
and  only  meant  for  superficial  examination.  As  a  matter  of  fact, 
the  Communists  knew  all  along  that  they  would  control  the  Red 
International,  but  now  try  with  the  aid  of  this  clause  to  "dummy 
up"  on  the  Syndicalist  organizations.  But  such  transparent  shams 
have  fooled  no  one.  This  clause  serves  nicely  as  the  official  alibi 
of  the  Communists.  With  it  they  expect  to  prove  that  the  Red 
International  is  independent  of  the  Third  International.  But  the 
question  is:   Whom  could  they  prove  it  to? 

*'X.     Relations  with  the  Communist  International. 

"To  establish  close  and  unbreakable  connections  between 
the  Red  International  of  Labor  Unions  and  the  Third  Com- 
munist International,  the  Central  Council: 

"(1)  Sends  three  representatives  to  the  Executive  Committee 
of  the  Communist  International  with  deciding  votes  and  vice 
versa. 

"(2)  Organizes  joint  sessions  with  the  Executive  Committee 
of  the  Communist  International  for  the  discussion  of  the  most 
important  issues  of  the  inteiTiational  labor  movement,  and  for  the 
organization  of  common  action. 

"(3)  Issues,  when  it  is  warranted  by  the  events,  joint  appeals 
with  the  Communist  International." 

This  ends  the  discussions  on  the  "Resolutions  and  Decisions," 
and  having  nothing  more  of  importance  to  consider  in  connec- 
tion with  the  Red  International,  I  will  make  a  few  remarks  on 
the  "International  Congress  of  Seamen." 

50 


World  Congress  of  Seamen 

Besides  bearing  credentials  for  the  Red  International,  I  also 
bore  credentials  for  a  World's  Congress  of  Seamen,  which  was 
scheduled  to  take  place  in  Petrograd  on  August  1st.  This  con- 
gress never  materialized,  but  a  so-called  conference  was  arranged 
for  and  held  in  Moscow  on  August  12,  1921.  According  to  the 
reasons  advanced  by  Losovsky,  the  intended  congress  was  an- 
nulled because  in  the  light  of  the  situation  it  was  a  wrong  policy 
to  organize  a  separate  Seamen's  International  from  the  Red  Inter- 
national. Together  with  this  point  of  view  there  were  few  sea- 
men's delegates  present,  and  they  represented  but  a  small  frac- 
tion of  the  workers  in  this  industry.  Delegates  representing  sea- 
men were  present  only  from  four  countries :  Australia,  Argentina, 
Germany  and  America.  I  made  no  objection  to  turning  the  in- 
tended congress  into  a  conference  for  that  reason.  However,  the 
German  and  Argentine  delegates  objected  rather  strongly  against 
the  new  arrangement.  Nothing  came  out  of  the  conference  worth 
covering  here. 

German  Syndicalist  Congress 

Leaving  Moscow  I  arrived  in  Berlin,  where,  having  an  en- 
forced stay  ahead  of  me,  I  accepted  an  invitation  to  attend  the 
congress  of  the  German  Syndicalists  (F.  A.  U.  D.)  in  a  fraternal 
capacity.  Prior  to  the  opening  of  this  congress  other  delegates 
(who  had  represented  various  countries  at  the  Red  Interna- 
tional) arrived  and  informal  discussions  were  entered  into  re- 
garding the  international  situation.  Discussions  in  these  con- 
ferences indicated  an  unanimous  opinion  that  the  Congress  of  the 
Red  International  was  not  at  all  satisfactory  to  the  Syndicalist 
organizations,  but  opinion  was  divided  as  to  what  action  to  take. 
It  was  considered  advisable  to  allow  the  general  situation  to  clear 
up  by  waiting  until  the  many  organizations  represented  in  Moscow 
could  decide  on  the  reports  of  their  delegates.  This,  of  course, 
would  take  some  time.  When  I  left  Germany  for  home  the  situa- 
tion, as  it  appeared  to  me,  was  as  follows : 

That  practically  none  of  the  Syndicalist  organizations  of 
Europe  will  affiliate  with  the  Red  International  and  that  these 
organizations  are  still  very  anxious  to,  in  some  way,  establish 
connections  with  other  revolutionary  organizations.  All  that  is 
needed  is  initiative  by  some  organization  and  the  necessary  pre- 
liminary business  for  the  establishment  of  an  Economic  Inter- 
national can  be  easily  arranged.  And  I  think  that  if  the  I.  W.  W. 
sponsored  such  a  move  it  would  get  immediate  responses. 

The  foreign  delegates  who  attended  the  German  Congress, 
including  myself,  agreed  that  the  Holland  delegates  would  act 
as  the  secretary  of  a  temporary  bureau,  which  would  function 
as  an  information  bureau,  and  keep  the  various  revolutionary 

51 


organizations  in  touch  with  the  situation.  This  ended  my  par^ 
ticipation  in  anything  pertaining  to  the  labor  movement  in 
Europe,  excepting  a  short  talk  to  the  German  Syndicalist  con- 
gress, which  was  printed  in  Industrial  Solidarity. 


Proof  of  Domination 

I  will  add  here  some  material  that  I  think  is  conclusive  proof 
that  the  Red  International  was  dominated  by  the  Third  Inter- 
national. It  is  in  the  form  of  two  documents  dealing  with  the 
same  subject.  One  of  the  documents  was  adopted  as  a  part  of 
a  resolution  by  the  Third  International,  the  other  was  adopted 
in  the  same  capacity  at  the  first  Congress  of  the  Red  Inter- 
national. Both  these  documents  were  written  in  the  original, 
without  doubt,  by  the  same  individual,  but  as  they  appear  in 
the  congresses  mentioned  above,  one  has  been  slightly  altered 
by  changing  a  few  words  or  shows  a  reconstruction  of  a  sen- 
tence. It  is  obvious  that  the  one  that  was  adopted  by  the  Third 
International  Congress  is  the  original.  It  makes  little  difference 
who  was  the  author,  but  it  makes  a  world  of  difference  what 
motive  and  influence  caused  it  to  appear  embodied  in  a  resolu- 
tion that  was  adopted  at  the  First  Congress  of  the  Red  Inter- 
national, after  being  adopted  at  the  Third  Congress  of  the  Com- 
munist International. 

The  two  documents  are  displayed  below  in  parallel  form, 
so  that  the  reader  can  examine  the  selected  paragraphs.  The 
one  on  the  left  is  that  adopted  by  the  Communist  Congress  and 
the  other  by  the  Red  International  Congress.  You  will,  of  course, 
see  that  the  two  documents  are  the  same  by  comparing  one  para- 
graph with  the  one  directly  opposite. 


PROGRAM  OF  ACTION  FROM 
THESES  AND  RESOLUTIONS 
ADOPTED  AT  THE  THIRD  WORLD 
CONGRESS  OF  THE  COMMUNIST 
INTERNATIONAL,  PAGES  69  TO 
72,  RUSSIAN  EDITION. 


PROGRAM  OF  ACTION  FROM 
THE  RESOLUTIONS  AND  DECI- 
SIONS ADOPTED  BY  THE  FIRST 
INTERNATIONAL  CONGRESS  OF 
REVOLUTIONARY  TRADE  AND 
INDUSTRIAL  UNIONS,  PAGES  38 
TO  44,  AMERICAN  EDITION. 


Paragraph  3,  pages  69  and  70.) 
The  last  year  of  the  struggle  has 
shown  with  a  particular  vividness 
the  inability  of  strictly  trade  union 
organizations.  The  fact  of  the  work- 
ers in  one  concern  belonging  to 
several  unions  produces  a  weakening 
effect  on  the  struggle.  It  is  neces- 
sary .  .  .  and  this  should  be  the 
starting  point  of  a  tenacious  strug- 
gle 


(Paragraph  46,  page  38.) 
The  last  years  of  the  struggle 
have  shown  with  a  peculiar  vividness 
the  inability  for  strictly  trade  union 
organizations  to  meet  the  situation. 
The  fact  that  the  workers  in  one  con- 
cern belong  to  different  craft  unions 
weakens  their  efficiency  in  the  strug- 
gle. It  is  necessary  .  .  .  and  this 
should  be  the  starting  point  of  an 
implacable  struggle  .  .  . 


52 


(Paragraph  4,  page  70.) 

Each  factory  and  each  mill  should 
become  a  citadel  of  the  revolution. 
Old  forms  of  communication  between 
rank  and  file  members  of  the  union 
and  the  union  itself  such  as  money 
collectors,  representatives,  proxies  and 
others  should  be  substituted  by  the 
formation  of  factory  committees. 


(Paragraph  47,  page  39.) 

Each  factory  and  each  shop  should 
become  a  citadel  of  the  revolution. 
Old  forms  of  communication  between 
rank  and  file  members  and  the  union 
itself  such  as  money  collectors,  rep- 
resentatives, proxies  and  others  are 
insufficient;  it  is  necessary  to  strive 
towards  the  building  up  of  the  union 
on  the  basis  of  shop  committees. 


(Paragraph  5,  page  70.) 

The  first  question  to  be  put  before 
the  workers  and  the  factory  commit- 
tee ...  is  the  maintenance  of  the 
workers  discharged  on  account  of 
unemployment  at  the  expense  of  the 
enterprise.  It  should  not  be  per- 
mitted that  workers  should  be  throvsoi 
out  into  the  streets  without  the 
enterprise  being  in  the  least  con- 
cerned .  .  .  The  owner  must  be  com- 
pelled to  pay  full  wages  to  the  un- 
employed. 


(Paragraph  48,  page  39.) 

The  first  question  to  be  put  before 
the  workers  in  the  shop  committee. . . 
is  the  maintenance  of  the  workers 
discharged  on  account  of  unemploy- 
ment, at  the  expense  of  the  bosses 
of  the  given  branch  of  industry. 
Workers  should  not  be  permitted  to 
be  thrown  out  on  the  streets  with- 
out the  employers  being  in  the  least 
concerned  .  .  .  The  owner  must  be 
compelled  to  pay  full  wages  to  the 
unemployed. 


(Paragraph  6,  page  70.) 

The  closing  down  of  enterprises 
and  curtailing  of  the  workers'  hours 
are  at  present  time  the  most  efficient 
weapon  for  the  cleaning  of  the  con- 
cera  from  unreliable  elements  with 
the  help  of  which  the  bourgeoisie  is 
compelling  the  workers  to  accept  the 
reduction  of  wages,  increasing  of  the 
working  day  and  the  abolition  of  col- 
lective bargaining.  The  lock-out  is 
taking  more  and  more  definitely  a 
form  of  direct  action  on  the  part  of 
the   employers. 


(Paragraph  49,  page  39.) 

The  closing  down  of  concerns  and 
shortening  of  the  working  hours  are 
the  most  efficient  means  with  the 
help  of  which  the  bourgeoisie  com- 
pels the  workers  to  accept  lower 
wages,  longer  hours,  and  the  aboli- 
tion of  collective  bargaining.  Lock- 
outs take  a  more  and  more  definite 
form  of  direct  action  on  the  part 
of  the  employers  against  the  organ- 
ized workers. 


(Paragraph  7,  page  70.) 

One  of  the  ways  of  struggling 
against  such  closing  of  concerns  for 
the  purpose  of  a  reduction  of  wages 
and  standard  of  life  should  be  the 
taking  hold  by  the  workers  of  the 
factories  and  mills  and  proceeding 
with  production  by  themselves  de- 
spite the  owners'  will. 


(Paragraph  50,  page  40.) 
One  of  the  ways  of  battling 
against  the  closing  of  concerns  for 
the  pui-pose  of  the  reduction  of 
wages  and  lowering  of  the  standard 
of  life,  should  be  the  taking  over  of 
the  factories  and  mills  by  the  work- 
ers and  the  proceeding  with  produc- 
tion by  themselves  despite  the  own- 
ers' will. 


(Paragraph  9,  page  71.) 

In  the  case  of  such  tendencies  of 
reducing  wages  taken  up  by  capit- 
alists of  an  economic  crisis  in  the 
country,  the  task  of  the  revolutionary 
trade  unions  should  consist  in  their 
endeavors  to  prevent  the  reduction  in 
wages  by  turn  in  each  separate  con- 
cern, in  order  not  to  be  defeated  in 
parts. 


(Paragraph  53,  page  41.) 

When  the  tactics  of  wage  reduc- 
tion are  resorted  to  by  the  capitalist 
class  during  an  economic  crisis,  the 
problem  of  the  revolutionary  trade 
unions  consist  in  defeating  wage 
reduction  in  capitalist  industries,  in 
order  not  to  be  defeated  piecemeal. 


53 


(Paragraph  11,  page  71.) 
The  belief  in  the  absolute  value 
of  collective  stipulations  propagated 
by  the  opportunists  of  all  countries 
must  be  met  with  a  resolute  and 
keen  resistance  from  the  part  of  the 
revolutionary  trade  union  movement. 
The   collective    stipulation,    etc.,    etc. 


(Paragraph  54,  page  41.) 
The  belief  in  the  sanctity  of  col- 
lective bargaining  propagated  by  the 
opportunists  of  all  countries  must  be 
met  with  a  resolute  and  decided  re- 
sistance on  the  part  of  the  revolu- 
tionary trade  union  movement.  Col- 
lective bargaining,  etc.,  etc. 


(Paragraph  13,  page  71.) 
These  militant  organizations  not 
only  struggle  against  the  attacks  of 
the  employers  and  the  strikebreaking 
organizations,  but  take  the  initiative 
by  stopping  all  the  freight  and  prod- 
ucts. 


(Paragraph  56,  page  42.) 
These  militant  organizations  should 
not  only  resist  the  attacks  of  the 
employers  and  the  strikebreaking  or- 
ganizations, but  take  the  initiative 
by  stopping  all  freight  and  goods, 
etc.,  etc. 


I  have  gone  through  everything  that  I  think  is  necessary 
in  connection  with  the  Red  International.  This  report  could 
have  been  made  much  longer  by  studied  detail,  but  it  would 
be  of  little  use  here.  I  think,  too,  that  the  reader  will  finish 
this  report  with  the  impression  that  I  have  dealt  more  with 
the  Communist  control  phase  than  with  the  other  matter.  How- 
ever, this  is  not  a  fault,  but,  as  I  see  it,  it  was  really  the  whole 
issue  of  the  Congress  of  the  Red  International.  What  particular 
words  or  clauses  are  in  the  "Resolutions  or  Decisions"  are  im- 
portant only  in  consideration  of  this  control.  And  the  question 
of  control  having  been  settled,  it  is  obvious  (especially  with 
Communists)  that  these  "Resolutions  and  Decisions"  would  make 
little  difference  in  the  policy  pursued.  But  in  this  case  (the 
Red  International)  it  seems  as  though  the  Communists  were  so 
bent  on  camouflaging  their  position  as  to  manufacture  a  set  of 
resolutions  that  are  wholly  devoid  of  any  meaning  at  all.  For 
that  reason  I  have  commented  very  little  on  them,  feeling  that  the 
membership  would  see  the  inherent  weakness  of  everything 
adopted.  The  narrative  of  the  conditions  in  Russia  I  am  going 
to  leave  to  a  separate  report,  which  I  soon  hope  to  present  to 
the  membership  of  the  I.  W.  W. 

This  is  all  I  have  to  offer  as  a  report  and  I  leave  it  to  the 
judgment  of  the  members  of  the  I.  W.  W.,  confident  that  they 
will  give  it  the  careful  consideration  it  deserves. 

With  best  wishes,  I  remain  your  for  Industrial  Freedom, 


George  Williams. 


Chicago,  111.,  Dec.  12,  1921. 


54 


STATEMENT  BY  GENERAL  EXECUTIVE  BOARD 


Chicago,  III,  December  10,  1921. 

The  General  Executive  Board  of  the  Industrial  Workers  of 
the  World  recommends  that  this  organization  do  not  affiliate  in 
any  manner  with  the  Red  Trade  Union  International. 

The  Board  has  reached  this  decision  after  careful  examina- 
tion of  the  constitution  and  resolutions  adopted  by  the  first  con- 
gress at  Moscow;  the  preliminary  report  and  numerous  other 
documents  transmitted  by  Fellow  Worker  George  Williams,  the 
only  authorized  delegate  sent  from  the  I.  W.  W.  to  this  congress. 

The  Board  regards  affiliation  by  the  Industrial  Workers  of 
the  World  with  this  so-called  International  as  not  only  undesir- 
able but  absolutely  impossible  for  the  following  reasons: 

FIRST  THE  CONGRESS  EXPRESSLY  CONDEMNED  THE 
POLICY  AND  TACTICS  OF  THE  I.  W.  W. 

In  a  "Resolution  on  the  Question  of  Tactics,"  paragraph  26, 
appears  the  following: 

"The  Industrial  Workers  of  the  World,  an  independ- 
ent organization  in  America,  is  too  weak  to  take  the 
place  of  the  old  labor  unions.  The  I.  W.  W.  have  a  purely 
anarchistic  prejudice  against  politics  and  political  action, 
being  divided  into  siipporters  and  opponents  of  such  a 
cardinal  question  as  proletarian  dictatorship.  .  .  .  There- 
fore the  question  of  creating  revolutionary  cells  and  groups 
inside  the  American  Federation  of  Labor  and  the  inde- 
pendent unions  is  of  vital  importance.  There  is  no  other 
way  by  which  one  could  gain  the  working  mass  in  America, 
than  to  lead  a  systematic  struggle  within  the  unions." 

In  Resolution  VII,  "On  tLe  Organization  Question,"  the  con- 
gress explicitly  declares  for  the  policy  of  "boring  from  within" 
the  reactionary  trade  unions  and  condemns  all  efforts  to  construct 
new  and  scientific  revolutionary  organizations.  Under  section  V. 
of  this  resolution  ("Problems  of  Organization  in  the  Principal 
Countries")  the  work  of  the  I.  W.  W.  in  England  is  described  in 
the  following  tenns  (paragraph  18)  : 

"In  England,  irrespective  of  a  powerful  labor  movement, 
which  is  undergoing  a  radical  change,  there  are  attempts  at 
creating  new  organizations  of  the  I.  W.  W.,  or  One  Big 
Union  type.  Such  attempts  should  be  absolutely  and  sharply 
condemned  ...  To  wrest  out  tens  of  thousands  of  revolu- 
tionary workers  and  form  new  independent  organizations  is 

55 


a  crime  against  the  working  class  of  England  and  the  whole 
world.  Hence  all  the  organizations  which  are  in  accord  with 
the  Red  Trade  Union  International  must  concentrate  all  their 
efforts  for  the  purpose  of  winning  over  the  unions  one  by- 
one,  consolidate  their  ranks,  not  wasting  time  on  the  selected 
few,  'the  top,'  which  are  not  in  touch  with  the  masses." 

Unless  we  are  prepared  to  admit  that  the  British  administra- 
tion of  the  I.  W.  W.  is  "a  crime  against  the  working  class  of  Eng- 
land and  the  whole  world,"  we  are  certainly  precluded  from  affili- 
ating with  the  people  who  say  so. 

The  next  paragraph  (19),  referring  to  America,  lays  down 
as  law  a  policy  utterly  opposed  to  that  which  has  guided  the 
I.  W.  W.  from  its  beginning.    It  is  as  follows : 

"In  the  United  States  of  America,  where  we  have  the 
reactionary  American  Federation  of  Labor,  some  independ- 
ent unions,  the  I.  W.  W.  and  others,  the  principle  of  stay- 
ing within  the  old  unions  is  prevailing  here,  too.  The  mem- 
bers of  the  I.  W.  W.  should  join  their  respective  trade  unions 
and  spread  their  propaganda  among  them,  explaining  the 
working  class  problems.  The  longer  they  keep  themselves 
aloof  from  the  American  Federation  of  Labor,  the  greater 
will  be  the  sufferings  and  the  harder  will  be  the  process 
of  advancement  of  the  unorganized  workers  there.  The 
independent  unions,  which  favor  the  Red  Labor  Union 
International  should  co-ordinate  their  activities,  and  come 
to  an  understanding  with  those  labor  councils  which  offi- 
cially belong  to  the  American  Federation  of  Labor,  but  agree 
with  our  tactics.  Co-ordination  and  unity  of  action  among 
the  local  organizations  of  the  American  Federation  of  Labor 
and  the  I.  W.  W.  favoring  the  Red  International  should  also 
be  established." 

SECOND:  THE  RED  TRADE  UNION  INTERNATIONAL 
IS  POLITICAL  IN  CHARACTER  AND  DOMINATED  BY  PO- 
LITICIANS. IT  IS  IN  FACT  THE  COMMUNIST  PARTY, 
THINLY  DISGUISED. 

The  evidence  of  this  is  so  abundant  in  the  official  travis- 
actions  of  the  congress,  not  to  speak  of  the  character  of  its  per- 
sonnel as  described  in  Fellow  Worker  Williams'  report,  that  we 
need  but  quote,  first,  the  constitution.  Article  III.  ("On  Condi- 
tions of  Membership")  says: 

"Any  revolutionary  economic  class  organization  is  elig- 
ible to  membership  in  the  Red  International  of  Labor  Unions 
if  it  accepts  the  following  conditions  .  .  .  Section  7.  United 
action  with  all  the  revolutionary  organizations  and  the  Com- 
munist Party  of  the  country  in  all  defensive  activities  against 
the  bourgeoisie." 

56 


And  Resolution  III.  ("On  the  Question  of  Relation  Between 
the  Red  Labor  Union  International  and  the  Conununist  Inter- 
national") in  which  the  congress  resolves: 

"(2)  To  establish  the  closest  possible  contact  with  the 
Third  Communist  International  as  the  vanguard  of  the  rev- 
olutionary labor  movement  in  all  the  par^;s  of  the  world  on 
the  basis  of  joint  representation  at  both  executive  commit- 
tees, joint  conferences,  etc. 

(3)  That  the  above  connection  should  have  an  organic 
and  business  character  and  be  expreissed  in  the  joint  prep- 
aration of  pre-revolutionary  action  on  a  national  and  inter- 
national scale. 

(4)  That  it  is  imperative  for  every  country  to  strive 
towards  uniting  the  revolutionary  labor  union  organiza- 
tions and  the  establishment  of  the  closest  contact  between 
the  red  labor  unions  and  the  Communist  parties  for  the 
carrying  out  of  the  decisions  of  both  congresses." 

Turning  again  to  the  constitution,  we  find  (Article  X — 
"Relations  with  the  Communistic  International" — Section  1)  that 
three  representatives  from  the  R.  T.  U.  I.  will  sit  with  deciding 
votes  on  the  executive  committee  of  the  Third  (political)  Inter- 
national, and  vice  versa. 

Until  our  resolution  refusing  alliances  with  any  political 
party  is  repealed,  any  connection  between  such  an  organization 
and  the  I.  W.  W.  is  not  to  be  thought  of. 

THIRD :  IT  IS  THE  ANNOUNCED  INTENTION  OF  THE 
CLIQUE  WHICH  CREATED  AND  WHICH  CONTROLS  THE 
R.  T.  U.  I.  TO  "LIQUIDATE"  ALL  LABOR  ORGANIZATIONS 
EVERYWHERE  THAT  REFUSE  TO  SUBMIT  TO  THEIR 
AUTOCRATIC  DISCIPLINE. 

Throughout  the  published  resolutions  are  indiscriminate  de- 
nunciations of  this  labor  organization  and  that,  in  all  the  coun- 
tries to  which  the  influence  of  the  R.  T.  U.  I.  extends.  Com- 
mands are  given  with  an  air  of  papal  infallibility.  But  the 
would-be  dictators  of  the  world's  revolutionary  proletariat  go 
further  than  merely  passing  resolutions.  They  send  their  pro- 
pagandists, plentifully  supplied  with  money,  to  attempt  the  dis- 
ruption of  such  labor  unions  as  refuse  to  submit  unconditionally 
to  their  sovereign  decrees.  Of  this  fact  we  have  ample  and  con- 
vincing evidence. 

FOURTH :  IT  IS  THE  PURPOSE  OF  THE  R.  T.  U.  I.  TO 
"LIQUIDATE"— I.  E.,  DESTROY,  THE  I.  W.  W. 

We  have  already  shown  that  this  congress  adopted  resolu- 
tions disapproving  the  I.  W.  W.  position  and  in  effect  advising 

57 


it  tr  give  up  its  separate  existence  and  send  its  members  on  the 
wilJ.  goose  chase  of  trying  to  "capture  the  trade  unions." 

We  now  submit  from  a  document  of  the  congress,  entitled, 
"Summary  of  Report  on  Trade  Union  Policy  in  the  United  States" 
(prepared  by  Joseph  Dixon)  what  amounts  to  a  plan  of  action 
to  be  followed  by  R.  T.  U.  I.  adherents: 

"In  the  meantime  the  active  revolutionists  are  in  the 
One  Big  Union,  and  the  Industrial  Workers  of  the  World 
and  similar  organizations.  While  their  numbers  are  not 
large,  they  dominate  the  minds  of  the  revolutionists  who 
are  in  the  trade  unions,  giving  them  an  attitude  of  hopeless- 
ness towards  these  trade  unions  and  rendering  them  inactive 
therein.  Some  way  must  be  found  to  liquidate  these  'ideal' 
unions  and  release  the  revolutionary  energies  among  the 
masses;  the  idea  is  more  important  than  the  actual  struc- 
ture and  membership  involved.  It  must  be  recognized  that 
this  can  be  done  only  gradually.  The  first  steps  will  prob- 
ably be  removal  of  the  present  prohibition  of  revolutionists 
holding  office  in  trade  unions;  conceding  the  jurisdictions 
of  the  well-organized  industries  like  mining  to  the  established 
unions;  and  when  this  process  has  well  begun,  the  consoli- 
dation of  the  remaining  structures  of  the  'ideal'  unions  and 
their  concentration  on  unorganized  fields,  especially  the  un- 
skilled, and  possibly  a  system  of  minority  committees  within 
the  larger  movement  functioning,  not  to  break  it  up,  but 
to  strengthen  it  and  make  it  more  aggressive,  to  give  it  rev- 
olutionary leadership." 

And  after  referring  to  the  "bankruptcy  of  the  'ideal'  un- 
ions" and  reiterating  the  old  stuff  about  working  inside  the  ob- 
solete craft  unions,  the  document  concludes  with  the  following 
suggestions  for  subtly  and  gradually  undermining  the  revolu« 
tionary  morale  of  the  I.  W.  W.  members,  preparatory  to  their 
final  "liquidation": 

"First  we  must  recognize  that  the  I.  W.  W.  and  the 
0.  B.  U.  cannot  be  forced  or  cajoled  into  immediately 
abandoning  their  present  policy;  convincing  them  is  about 
as  hard.  They  have  a  religiously  fanatic  devotion  to  their 
organizations.  It  would  probably  be  even  harder  to  get 
them  to  unite;  although  upon  that  point  representatives 
of  the  two  organizations  should  speak.  The  most  practical 
immediate  step  which  promises  success  in  winning  their 
support  will  probably  take  the  form  of  an  agreement  on 
their  part,  already  agreed  to  in  principle  by  a  Communist 
minority,  that  efforts  to  invade  the  fields  of  coal  mining, 
railroads  and  needle  trades,  with  dual  organizations,  will 
be  abandoned;  and  instead  o^  prohibiting  their  members 
from  participation  in  trade  union  administration  and  activi- 

58 


ties,  they  will  be  directed  to  work  within  the  trade  unions 
in  good  faith,  not  to  disrupt  them  but  to  strengthen  them 
and  develop  their  best  tendencies." 

The  G.  E.  B.  does  not  expect  the  I.  W.  W.  will  care  to  be 
party  to  a  carefully  conceived  plot  for  its  own  destruction. 

FIFTH:  THE  MOSCOW  CONGRESS  WAS  NOT  GENU- 
INELY REPRESENTATIVE  OF  THE  INTERNATIONAL  REV- 
OLUTIONARY LABOR  MOVEMENT. 

It  was  a  packed  congress.  Delegates  were  seated  with  votes 
who  represent  non-existent  organizations.  The  makeup  of  the 
body  was  arranged  so  as  to  assure  absolute  control  by  the 
Communist  Party.  For  evidence  of  this  fact,  especially  as  re- 
gards the  American  delegation,  we  refer  to  the  preliminary 
report  of  Fellow  Worker  Williams. 

SIXTH:  EVEN  IF  IT  WERE  PERMITTED  TO  ASSOCI- 
ATE OUR  ACTVITIES  WITH  ANY  POLITICAL  GROUP,  THE 
L  W.  W.  WOULD  FIND  IT  IMPOSSIBLE  TO  CO-OPERATE 
WITH  THE  COMMUNIST  PARTY  OF  AMERICA. 

These  "Communists,"  many  of  whom  were  members  of  the 
reformist  Socialist  Party  until  they  were  thrown  out  after  un- 
successfully trying  to  gain  control  of  it,  have  seemed  to  make 
the  I.  W.  W.  the  especial  target  of  their  attack — probably  be- 
cause the  I.  W.  W.  refused  to  be  interested  in  their  phrase- 
mongering and  "underground"  nonsense.  They  have  wormed 
their  way  into  our  organization  with  no  other  motive  than  to 
rule  or  ruin.  Their  press  incessantly  attacks  the  I.  W.  W.  posi- 
tion. They  have  even  used  the  distress  of  the  Russian  famine 
victims  for  the  purpose  of  their  propaganda.  Their  speakers 
supposedly  touring  the  country  to  solicit  funds  for  relief  (a 
project  which  the  I.  W.  W.  heartily  supported)  have  abused 
their  humanitarian  mission  by  taking  the  opportunity  to  spread 
C.  P.  propaganda  and  to  disparage  the  I.  W.  W.  They  are 
plentifully  supplied  with  funds — which  do  not  come  from  the 
pockets  of  the  working  class — with  which  to  carry  out  the  ne- 
farious project  above  exposed  to  sabotage  and  destroy  Revolu- 
tionary Industrial  Unionism  as  exemplified  by  our  organization. 
They  are  promoting  a  "unity"  conference  ol  independent  un- 
ions, which  has  no  other  object  than  to  supplant  the  I.  W.  W. 
Infatuated  with  their  own  egotism  and  their  fancied  role  of 
saviours  of  the  working  class,  they  are  ready  to  use  any  means, 
no  matter  how  underhanded  and  dishonest,  to  destroy  wherever 
they  cannot  dominate. 

The  G.  E.  B.  reaffirms  the  internationalism  of  the  I.  W.  W. 
The  conception  of  our  organization  is  world  wide  in  its  scope. 
In  fact  as  well  as  in  name  we  aim  to  be  the  Industrial  Workers 
of  the  World.     We  extend  the  hand  of  solidarity  to  revolution- 

59 


ary,  class  conscious  workers  of  every  land.  We  invite  them  to 
examine  our  program,  Preamble  and  plan  of  organization,  and 
see  if  they  do  not  establish  a  scientific  basis  for  a  revolutionary 
unionism  in  their  respective  countries.  We  welcome  proposals 
for  international  affiliation  that  are  not  in  conflict  with  our 
principles  and  policy,  and  do  not  call  upon  us  to  sacrifice  our 
autonomy. 

In  concluding  this  report,  the  General  Executive  Board  calls 
upon  all  members  of  the  I.  W.  W.,  to  whom  the  organization's 
name  and  integrity  are  dear,  to  rally  to  its  support.  It  is  being 
attacked  not  only  by  the  capitalist  class,  but  by  professed  revo- 
lutionists, some  of  whom  carry  its  membership  card.  They  have 
plentiful  funds  to  prosecute  their  schemes  of  disruption.  The 
I.  W.  W.  has  none  to  combat  them  except  what  its  members 
supply.  They  have  not  failed  in  their  revolutionary  duty  before; 
they  will  not  do  so  now!  And  the  I.  W.  W.  will  live  and  march 
on  toward  its  goal  of  working-class  emancipation  when  the  very 
names  of  its  detractors  are  forgotten. 

Yours  for  Industrial  Communism, 

The  General  Executive  Board 
of  the  Industrial  Workers  of  the  World. 

John  Grady,  General  Secretary-Treasurer. 

Robert  E.  Daly,  Chairman. 

Calvin  Green. 

Alex.  Kohler. 

Martin  Carlson. 

Albert  Bare. 

Walter  Smith. 

John  Jackson. 


THE   PREAMBLE 

OF  THE  INDUSTRIAL  WORKERS  OF  THE  WORLD 


The  working  class  and  the  employing  class  have  nothing 
in  common.  There  can  be  no  peace  so  long  as  hunger  and 
want  are  found  among  millions  of  working  people  and  the 
few,  who  make  up  the  employing  class,  have  all  the  good 
things  of  life. 

Between  these  two  classes  a  struggle  must  go  on  until 
the  workers  of  the  world  organize  as  a  class,  take  posses- 
sion of  the  earth  and  the  machinery  of  production,  and 
abolish  the  wage  system. 

We  find  that  the  centering  of  management  of  the  indus- 
tries into  fewer  and  fewer  hands  makes  the  trade  unions 
unable  to  cope  with  the  ever  growing  power  of  the  employ- 
ing class.  The  trade  unions  foster  a  state  of  affairs  which 
allows  one  set  of  workers  to  be  pitted  against  another  set 
of  workers  in  the  same  industry,  thereby  helping  defeat 
one  another  in  wage  wars.  Moreover,  the  trade  unions  aid 
the  employing  class  to  mislead  the  workers  into  the  be- 
lief that  the  working  class  have  interests  in  common  with 
their  employers. 

These  conditions  can  be  changed  and  the  interest  of  the 
working  class  upheld  only  by  an  organization  formed  in 
such  a  way  that  all  its  members  in  any  one  industry,  or 
in  all  industries  if  necessary,  cease  work  whenever  a  strike 
or  lockout  is  on  in  any  department  thereof,  thus  making 
an  injury  to  one  an  injury  to  all. 

Instead  of  the  conservative  motto,  "A  fair  day's  wage 
for  a  fair  day's  work,"  we  must  inscribe  on  our  banner  the 
revolutionary  watchword,  "Abolition  of  the  wage  system." 

It  is  the  historic  mission  of  the  working  class  to  do  away 
with  capitalism.  The  army  of  production  must  be  organ- 
ized, not  only  for  the  every-day  struggle  with  capitalists, 
but  also  to  carry  on  production  when  capitalism  shall  have 
been  overthrown.  By  organizing  industrially  we  are  form- 
ing the  structure  of  the  new  society  within  the  shell  of 
the  old. 


LW.W.  PUBLICATIONS 

Authorized  by  the  General  Executive  Board 
oftheL  W,  W, 


ENGLISH 

INDUSTRIAL    SOLIDARITY 

1001  West  Madison  St.,  Chicago,  111. 
$2.00  per  year;  six  months,  $1.00. 
Weekly. 

INDUSTRIAL    WORKER 

Box  1857,  Seattle,  Wash.  $2.00  per 
year;  six  months,  $1.00.  Weekly. 

INDUSTRIAL  UNIONIST 

New  York,  Box  79,  Station  D.  Sub- 
scription rates:  52  issues,  $2.00;  25 
issues,  $1.00;  bundle  rates,  10  copies 
or  over,  3  cents  each. 


RUSSIAN 

GOLOS  TRUZENIKA 

(The    Voice    of    the    Laborer) 

1001  West  Madison  St.,  Chicago,  111. 
Once  a  week;  $5.00  per  year;  6 
months,  $2.75;  3  months,  $1.50;  5 
cents  per  copy.  Bundle  orders  3 
cents  per  copy. 

HUNGARIAN 

A  FELSZABADULAS 

(Ememcipation) 

1001  West  Madison  St.,  Chicago,  111. 
$3-00  per  year;  six  months,  $1.50. 
Weekly. 

ITALIAN 

IL  PROLETARIO 

(The     Proletarian) 

1001  West  Madison  St.,  Chicago,  111. 
$2.00  per  year;  six  months,  $1.00. 
Weekly. 

SPANISH 

SOLIDARIDAD 

Semi-Monthly,  1001  West  Madison 
St.,  Chicago,  111.  26  issues  $2.00;  5 
cents  per  copy. 


BULGARIAN 
RABOTNICHESKA  MYSL 

(Worker*'   Thought) 

1001  West  Madison  St.,  Chicago,  111. 
$2.00  per  year;  six  months,  $1.00. 
Weekly. 

ROUMANIAN 

MUNCITORUL 

(The    Worker) 

Twice  a  month,  $2.00  per  year  (26 
issues).  1001  West  Madison  St., 
Chicago,   111. 


CZECHO-SLOVAK 
JEDNA  VELKA  UNIE 

(One   Big  Union) 

Monthly.  $1.00  per  year.  Single  co- 
pies 10  cents.  Bundle  orders  7  cents 
per  copy. 

FINNISH 
TIE  VAPAUTEEN 

(Road    to    Freedom) 

Finish  Monthly.  1001  West  Madison 
St.,  Chicago,  111.  Single  copies,  25 
cents.  One  year,  $2.00.  Bundle  or- 
ders over  10  copies,  20  per  cent  al- 
lowed. 


Industrial    Union    Papers 
FINNISH 

INDUSTRIALIST! 

(The    Industrialist) 

Box   464,   Duluth,    Minn.,    Daily. 


Working  Class  Education  Demands 
That  You  Subscibe  NOW! 


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